Socket for semiconductor device

ABSTRACT

Lengths of arms of pressing members held at a lower end of an arm section of a cover member are determined in correspondence to the retention of semiconductor devices having contour dimensions different from each other, and are shorter than a length of the arm section so that part of the pressing members is projected outside through a recess of the socket body.

This application is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/735,882, filed Dec. 16, 2003 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,386, whichclaims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-365724,filed Dec. 17, 2002, and Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-393067,filed Nov. 21, 2003, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a socket for a semiconductor devicecapable of selectively mounting one of a plurality of semiconductordevices, each having a different contour dimension from the other.

2. Description of the Related Art

Semiconductor devices to be mounted to electronic equipments aresubjected to various tests prior to being actually mounted so thatlatent defects thereof are to be removed. Such tests are carried out ina non-destructive manner by the application of voltage stress, theoperation in a hot environment or the hot holding in accordance with thethermal or mechanical environmental inspections. Of these tests, oneeffective for the removal of an integrated circuit having an infantmortality failure is a burn-in test as the operation test carried outfor a predetermined period in a high-temperature condition.

A socket for a semiconductor device subjected to such a test isgenerally referred to as an IC socket which is disposed on a printedwiring board having an input/output section for receiving apredetermined test voltage into a semiconductor device to be tested andtransmitting an abnormality detection signal representing ashort-circuit or others generated from the semiconductor device asdisclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No.2001-185313.

As shown in FIG. 67, the socket for a semiconductor device includes asocket body 4 disposed on a printed wiring board not illustrated andaccommodating a group of contact terminals (not shown) for the electricconnection of a semiconductor device 2 with the printed wiring board, apositioning member 6 disposed above the contact terminal group withinthe socket body 4 and having an accommodating section 6a for mountingthe semiconductor device 2 therein, a latch mechanism disposed aroundthe positioning member 6 and having a pair of pressing members 8 forselectively holding the semiconductor device 2 relative to theaccommodating section 6 a of the positioning member 6, and a covermember 10 for transmitting the operative force via a drive mechanism tothe latch mechanism 8 so that the pressing members 8 are operated.

The positioning member 6 is fixed to the socket body 4 so that therelative position of the terminals of the semiconductor device 2 to thecontact terminal group is determined by locating the outer periphery ofthe semiconductor device 2 mounted within the accommodating section 6 aat a desired position.

The pair of pressing members 8 of the latch mechanism are arrangedopposite to each other while interposing the semiconductor device 2between the both. The pressing member 8 comprises of a proximal end 8Bsupported rotational moveably by the socket body 4 and coupled to theabove-mentioned drive mechanism, an touch portion 8P for selectivelybeing in contact with or apart from the outer periphery of thesemiconductor device 2, and a connecting portion BC for coupling theproximal end 8B with the touch portion 8P.

When the semiconductor device 2 is mounted within the accommodatingsection 6 a, the touch portion 8P of the pressing member 8 is located ata position in readiness apart from the accommodating section not tointerfere with the semiconductor device 2, and after the semiconductordevice 2 has been mounted in the accommodating section, the touchportion 8P of the pressing member 8 enters the accommodating section 6 aas shown in FIG. 67 to occupy the holding position.

The cover member 10 has an opening 10 a in a central area thereof forallowing the semiconductor device 2 to pass through the same when thesemiconductor device 2 is mounted into or removed from the accommodatingsection 6 a of the positioning member 6. The cover member 10 is adaptedto be movable upward and downward to the socket body 10 and coupled to adrive mechanism (not shown). The drive mechanism may be, for example, alink mechanism or a cam mechanism for coupling the cover member 10 withthe proximal end of the pressing member 8 in the latch mechanism to moverotationaly the pressing member 8 in accordance with the upward/downwardmotion of the cover member 10.

In such a construction, when the semiconductor device 2 is mounted intothe accommodating section 6 a of the positioning member 6 through theopening 10 a of the cover member 10, it is possible to mount thesemiconductor device 2 into the accommodating section 6 a because thecover member 10 is pushed downward to be hold from the upper position ata predetermined stroke relative to the socket body 4 and the positioningmember 6 to locate the touch portions 8P of the pair of pressing members8 at the position in readiness apart from each other relative to theaccommodating section 6 a of the positioning member 6.

Then, if the cover member 10 is released from the holded state, thecover member 10 moves upward by a force of a biasing member not shown tothe initial position and the touch portions 8P of the pressing members 8move from the position in readiness relative to the accommodatingsection 6 a of the positioning member 6 to be close to each other topress the terminals of the semiconductor device 2 located by thepositioning member 6 toward the contact terminal group at the holdingposition. Accordingly, the semiconductor device 2 is held in theaccommodating section 6 a of the positioning member 6.

When semiconductor devices having various contour dimensions differentfrom each other are tested by using the above-mentioned IC socket, ithas been desired that one kind of the IC socket is commonly usablethereto and the more number of IC sockets are mounted at a higherdensity onto the printed wiring board.

However, since the number of IC sockets mounted onto one printed wiringboard is as large as possible at present for the purpose of carrying outthe burn-in test at a high efficiency, a mutual distance between theadjacent IC sockets is considerably small.

Under the present conditions, it may be thought to minimize a whole sizeof the IC socket for the purpose of increasing the number of IC socketsto be mounted. However, such a downsizing of the whole size of the ICsocket has a limitation in view of the above-mentioned common use of onekind of the IC socket.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

With reference to the above-mentioned problems, an object of the presentinvention is to provide a socket for a semiconductor device capable ofselectively mounting thereon one of a plurality of semiconductor deviceshaving contour dimensions different from each other, which is capable ofreducing an occupation area of a socket body on a printed wiring boardand being arranged to be close to the adjacent one for the purpose ofrealizing the high-density arrangement of the IC sockets. To achieve theabove-mentioned object, a socket for a semiconductor device according tothe present invention the inventive socket for a semiconductor device,comprises a socket body having a semiconductor device placement sectionfor selectively accommodating one of a plurality of semiconductordevices having contour dimensions different from each other, to beelectrically connected to contact terminals, a pressing member having antouch portion brought in contact with the semiconductor device andpressing the semiconductor device toward the contact terminals, thepressing member being driven by a pressing member driving mechanism inaccordance with the attachment or detachment of the semiconductor devicerelative to the semiconductor device placement section, for holding thesemiconductor device in the semiconductor device placement section; andwherein, when the pressing member driving mechanism moves the touchportion of the pressing member to be away from the semiconductor deviceto a position in readiness at which the touch portion of the pressingmember is not interfered with the semiconductor device upon theattachment or detachment of the semiconductor device, a portion of thepressing member is bulged outwardly from an end of the socket body viaan opening of the socket body.

Also, the inventive socket for a semiconductor device, comprises asocket body having a semiconductor device placement section forselectively accommodating one of a plurality of semiconductor deviceshaving contour dimensions different from each other, to be electricallyconnected to contact terminals, a pressing member having an touchportion brought in contact with the semiconductor device and pressingthe semiconductor device toward the contact terminals, for holding thesemiconductor device in the semiconductor device placement section; anda cover member supported by the socket body in a movable manner forbring the touch portion of the pressing member into contact with or awayfrom the semiconductor device in accordance with the attachment ordetachment of the semiconductor device relative to the semiconductordevice placement section; wherein, the cover member and the socket bodyhave openings, respectively, so that when the cover member causes thetouch portion of the pressing member to be away from the semiconductordevice to a position in readiness at which the touch portion of thepressing member is not interfered with the semiconductor device, aportion of the pressing member is bulged outwardly from an end of thesocket body via the openings.

Also, the inventive socket for a semiconductor device comprises a firstpressing member for holding the semiconductor device in thesemiconductor device placement section, having a proximal end supportedin a moveably rotationally manner at one end of the socket body and antouch portion formed at the proximal end while being deviated in onewidthwise direction to be in contact with the semiconductor device sothat the semiconductor device is pressed toward the contact terminals;and a second pressing member for holding the semiconductor device in thesemiconductor device placement section in association with the firstpressing member, having a proximal end supported in a moveablyrotationally manner at the other end of the socket body and an touchportion formed at the proximal end corresponding to the touch portion ofthe first pressing member while being deviated in the other widthwisedirection to be in contact with the semiconductor device so that thesemiconductor device is pressed toward the contact terminals.

Also, the inventive socket for a semiconductor device comprises a firstpressing member for holding the semiconductor device in thesemiconductor device placement section, having a proximal end supportedin a moveably rotationally manner at one end of the socket body and antouch portion in contact with the semiconductor device and pressing thesemiconductor device toward the contact terminals; and a second pressingmember for holding the semiconductor device in the semiconductor deviceplacement section in association with the first pressing member, havinga proximal end supported in a moveably rotationally manner at the otherend of the socket body and an touch portion in contact with thesemiconductor device so that the semiconductor device is pressed towardthe contact terminals; wherein the second pressing member has a recessfor allowing a portion of the first pressing member to enter.

The inventive socket for a semiconductor device comprises a socket bodyhaving a semiconductor device placement section for placing thesemiconductor device, contact terminals, each having a contact portionmovable to be close to or away from the semiconductor device placementsection, for electrically connecting terminals of the semiconductordevice to a signal input/output section via the contact portions, and acover member disposed in the socket body in a movable manner for causingthe contact portions of the contact terminals to be close to or awayfrom the semiconductor device placement section, wherein when the covermember moves close to the socket body, the contact portions of thecontact terminals are away from the semiconductor device placementsection and tip ends of engagement end sections of the contact terminalsengaged with the cover member are projected outwardly through an openingof the cover member. The inventive socket for a semiconductor devicecomprises a socket body having a semiconductor device placement sectionfor placing the semiconductor device, contact terminals, each having acontact portion movable to be close to or away from the semiconductordevice placement section, for electrically connecting terminals of thesemiconductor device to a signal input/output section via the contactportions, and a lever member disposed in the socket body in a moveablyrotational manner for causing the contact portions of the contactterminals to be close to or away from the semiconductor device placementsection, and a cover member disposed in the socket body in a movablemanner for moving rotationally the lever member, wherein when the covermember is made to move close to the socket body, the contact portion ofthe contact terminal is away from the semiconductor device placementsection and one end of the lever member engaged with the cover member isprojected outwardly through an opening of the cover member.

As apparent from the above description, according to the inventivesocket for a semiconductor device, when the pressing member drivingmechanism moves the touch portion of the pressing member to the positionin readiness at which the touch portion does not interfere with thesemiconductor device during the attachment/detachment of thesemiconductor device, part of the pressing member is bulged outward fromthe end of the socket body through the opening of the socket body.Thereby, since a size of the pressing member is not restricted by thesocket body, it is possible to minimize the socket body and thus toreduce an exclusive area of the socket body on the printed wiring board.Also, by arranging the bulged adjacent pressing members in a staggeredmanner, it is possible to dispose the adjacent IC sockets closer to eachother to realize the high-density mounting of the IC sockets.

Also, since the first pressing member having the touch portion formedwhile deviated to one side in the widthwise direction of the proximalend section to be in contact with the semiconductor device to push thesemiconductor device toward the contact terminals, and the secondpressing member having the touch portion formed in correspondence to thetouch portion of the first pressing member while deviated to the otherside in the widthwise direction of the proximal end section to be incontact with the semiconductor device to push the semiconductor devicetoward the contact terminals, for retaining the semiconductor device inthe semiconductor device placement section in association with the firstpressing member are provided, it is possible to dispose the adjacentsocket bodies closer to each other by approaching the touch portion ofthe first pressing member in one socket body to the touch portion of thesecond pressing member in the other socket body. Thus, the IC socketscan be mounted onto a limited mounting area of the printed wiring boardat a high density.

The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of thepresent invention will become more apparent from the followingdescription of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a first embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention,schematically illustrating a whole structure thereof;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, in which acover member is located at the uppermost position and a semiconductordevice is mounted thereto;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing part of the structure shownin FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view of part of the structure shown inFIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a schematic illustration for explaining the operation of theembodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration made available for explaining theoperation of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for a semiconductordevice shown in FIG. 1 arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an embodiment shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a side view of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of a plurality of sockets for a semiconductordevice shown in FIG. 1 arranged in a staggered manner;

FIG. 11 is an illustration made available for explaining the mutualrelationship between the adjacent sockets for a semiconductor device inthe arrangement shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a plan view illustrating an example of another arrangement ofa pressing member used in the first embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 13 is an illustration made available for explaining the mutualrelationship between the adjacent sockets for a semiconductor device inthe arrangement shown in FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a plan view of a first modification of the pressing memberused in the first embodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 15 is an illustration made available for explaining the structureof the pressing members adjacent to each other in the sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIG. 14;

FIG. 16 is a plan view of a second modification of the pressing memberused in the first embodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 17 is an illustration made available for explaining the structureof the pressing members adjacent to each other in the sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIG. 16;

FIGS. 18A and 18B are sectional views, respectively, of a secondembodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordance withthe present invention, schematically illustrating a whole structurethereof;

FIGS. 19A and 19B are sectional views, respectively, of the socket for asemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 18A and 18B, in which asemiconductor device having a different shape is mounted;

FIGS. 20A and 20B are sectional views, respectively, schematicallyillustrating a important part of a third embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 21 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B arranged parallel toeach other;

FIG. 22 is a plan view of FIG. 21;

FIG. 23 is a side view of FIG. 22;

FIGS. 24A and 24B are sectional views, respectively, schematicallyillustrating a important part of a fourth embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 25 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 24A and 24B arranged parallel toeach other;

FIG. 26 is a side view of FIG. 25;

FIG. 27 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIG. 25 arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 28 is a plan view illustrating the arrangement of the adjacentsockets for a semiconductor device in a modification of the fourthembodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 29 is a sectional view of FIG. 28 as seen from the front sidethereof;

FIG. 30 is a side view of FIG. 28;

FIGS. 31A and 31B are sectional views, respectively, schematicallyillustrating a important part of a fifth embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 32 is a plan view of a plurality of sockets for a semiconductordevice shown in FIGS. 31A and 31B arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 33 is a side view of FIG. 32;

FIG. 34 is a sectional view of FIG. 32 as seen from the front sidethereof;

FIG. 35 is a front view of a sixth embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present inventionschematically illustrating the appearance thereof;

FIG. 36 is a sectional view taken along a section line XXXVI—XXXVI inFIG. 35;

FIG. 37 is a sectional view in a state shown in FIG. 35;

FIG. 38 is a front view made available for explaining the operation ofthe embodiment shown in FIG. 35;

FIG. 39 is a sectional view taken along a section line XXXIX—XXXIX inFIG. 38;

FIG. 40 is a sectional view in a state shown in FIG. 38;

FIGS. 41A and 41B are sectional views, respectively, of a seventhembodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordance withthe present invention;

FIG. 42 is a plan view of a plurality of sockets for a semiconductordevice shown in FIGS. 41A and 41B arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 43 is a sectional view of FIG. 42;

FIGS. 44A and 44B are sectional views, respectively, illustrating aneighth embodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 45 is a side view of FIGS. 44A and 44B;

FIG. 46 is a sectional view partially of FIGS. 44A and 44B madeavailable for explaining the operation thereof;

FIG. 47 is a sectional view partially of the prior art device relatingto that shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B;

FIG. 48 is a sectional view showing a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B arranged parallel toeach other;

FIG. 49 is a plan view of FIG. 48;

FIG. 50 is a sectional view of a ninth embodiment of the socket for asemiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 51 is a sectional view showing a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIG. 50 arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 52 is a plan view showing a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIG. 50 arranged in a staggered manner;

FIGS. 53A and 53B are sectional views, respectively, illustrating atenth embodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordancewith the present invention;

FIG. 54 is a side view of FIGS. 53A and 53B;

FIG. 55 is a sectional view partially of FIGS. 53A and 53B madeavailable for illustrating the operation thereof;

FIG. 56 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device shown in FIGS. 53A and 53B arranged parallel toeach other;

FIG. 57 is a plan view of FIG. 56;

FIG. 58 is a plan view of a plurality of sockets for a semiconductordevice shown in FIGS. 53A and 53B arranged in a staggered manner;

FIG. 59 is a sectional view of an eleventh embodiment of the socket fora semiconductor device in accordance with the present invention;

FIGS. 60A and 60B are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively,illustrating one modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 53A and53B;

FIGS. 61A and 61B are a plan view and a sectional view, respectively,illustrating another modification of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 53Aand 53B;

FIGS. 62A and 62B are sectional views, respectively, illustrating atwelfth embodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 63 is a side view of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 62A and 62B;

FIG. 64 is a sectional view of a plurality of sockets for asemiconductor device arranged parallel to each other;

FIG. 65 is a plan view of FIG. 64;

FIG. 66 is a sectional view partially of the prior art apparatusrelating to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 53A and 53B; and

FIG. 67 is an illustration made available for explaining the structureand the operation of a important part of the prior art socket-for asemiconductor device.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 schematically illustrate a whole structure of a firstembodiment of the socket for a semiconductor device in accordance withthe present invention.

A plurality of sockets for a semiconductor device shown in FIG. 2 arearranged at positions in a printed wiring board 22 in correspondence toconductive layers thereof. In FIGS. 1 and 2, only one socket for asemiconductor device is shown as a representative example.

The semiconductor socket is mainly comprised of a socket body 20 fixedto the printed wiring board 22, a plurality of contact terminals 24 ai(i=1 to n; n is a positive integer) disposed in a contact accommodatingsection 20 a located in an central area of the socket body 20, forelectrically connecting a semiconductor device described later with theprinted wiring board 22, a cover member 30 supported by the socket body20 to be movable upward/downward, for transmitting an operative force toa latch mechanism described later, a positioning member 34 supported bythe socket body 20 in a detachable manner, for accommodating therein asemiconductor device 36 to be tested and locating the latter to thecontact terminals 24 ai in electrode sections of the semiconductordevice 36, and a latch mechanism including pressing members 26 and 28for holding the respective electrode sections of the semiconductordevice 36 accommodated in the positioning member 34 while pressing therespective electrode sections of the semiconductor device 36 toward theplurality of contact terminals 24 ai.

The semiconductor device 36 made available for such a semiconductordevice socket is a generally square-shaped semiconductor element, forexample, of a BGA type or a LGA type having an electrode surface onwhich a plurality of electrode sections are formed in the vertical andhorizontal directions.

The socket body 20 has a recess 20 b at each of opposite ends thereof,for allowing a lower end of an arm section and a proximal end of thepressing member 26 or 28 to enter therein when the cover member 30described later is made to descend. The recess 20 b opens outwardly. Arecess 20 a is formed at a center of the interior of the socket body 20,in which the contact terminals 24 ai are arranged in correspondence tothe electrode sections of the semiconductor device 36. The contactterminal 24 ai extends generally in the vertical direction relative to asurface of the printed wiring board 22. A fixation surface is formedaround the recess 20 a, on which the positioning member 34 is placed andfixed in a detachable manner. In this regard, a positioning member 40described later is also placed in a detachable manner.

An inner groove 20 g is formed in a portion on the opposite side of eachrecess 20 b on the fixation surface around the recess 20 a,respectively, for guiding in a movable manner a guide pin of thepressing member 26 or 28 engaged therewith. The inner groove 20 g opensat one end thereof toward the recess 20 b and is formed generallyparallel to the fixation surface.

The contact terminal 24 ai is constructed by two thin terminals,respectively, supported by opposite ends of a thin cylindrical tube in amovable manner and a coil spring disposed between the two terminalswithin the tube for biasing the two terminals, respectively, outward. Inthis regard, the contact terminal 24 ai is not limited to such aconstruction, but may be made, for example, of an elastic thin metallicsheet to have a curved section coupling the two terminals with eachother.

The positioning member 34 has an accommodating section 34 a therein foraccommodating the semiconductor device 36 and positioning the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 36 to the terminals of the contactterminal 24 ai. The terminal of the contact terminal 24 ai is projectedinto the interior of the accommodating section 34 a. Opposite wallsdefining the accommodating section 34 a have openings for allowing thepressing members 26 and 28 to pass through them, respectively.

The cover member 30 has an opening 30 a in a central area thereof forallowing the semiconductor device 36 to pass through the same during theattachment/detachment of the semiconductor device 36. The cover member30 is supported to be movable upward/downward while guided along eachgrooves formed in the outer periphery of the socket body 20 to beengageable with a plurality of legs thereof. Between the inner surfaceof the cover member 30 opposite to the positioning member 34 and thesocket body 20, a plurality of coil springs 38 for biasing the covermember 30 upward; i.e., for biasing the cover member 30 away from thepositioning member 34; are provided. At that time, a nib provided at atip end of the leg of the cover member 30 is engaged with the end of thegroove to hold the cover member 30 at the uppermost position as shown inFIG. 2.

The cover member 30 has arm sections 30H to be coupled to the proximalends of the pressing members 26 and 28 described later via connectingpins, while being opposed to the recess 20 b. A pair of arm sections 30Hare disposed at a predetermined mutual distance as seen in the verticaldirection to a paper plane. An upper end of the arm section 30H isformed in the inner circumference of the cover member 30 to be integraltherewith, while a lower end of the arm section 30H is projected towardthe recess 20 b and has a hole to be engageable with a connecting pin32. The, arm section 30H has a predetermined length as shown in FIG. 2.That is, this length is set to be slightly longer than a whole length ofthe pressing member 26 or 28, whereby, when the cover member 30 is atthe uppermost position, the pressing members 26, 28 coupled thereto areheld under pressure, and when the cover member 30 is at the lowermostposition, the pressing members 26 and 28 coupled thereto are at theposition in readiness as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and the lower end of thearm section 30H is not in contact with the bottom surface defining therecess 20 b.

Since the pressing members 26 and 28 provided between the arm sections30H opposite to each other in correspondence to the recess 20 b have theidentical structure each other, the explanation will be made solely onthe pressing member 26 and the explanation of the pressing member 28will be eliminated.

The pressing member 26 includes a proximal end section 26E having a holeto be inserted with a connecting pin 32, an touch portion 26Tselectively to be in contact with the outer peripheral region of thesemiconductor device 36, and a coupling section 26C for coupling theproximal end section 26E to the touch portion 26T.

The proximal end section 26E is supported moveably rotationally at thelower end of the arm section 30H via the connecting pin 32. A guide pin26P slidably engaged with the inner groove 20 g is provided in theconnecting section 26C. As shown in FIG. 4, the guide pin 26P occupies aposition in the vicinity of the closed end of the inner groove 20 g whenthe pressing member 26 is in a pressed state, while as shown in FIG. 3,occupies a position in the vicinity of the open end of the inner groove20 g as the pressing member 26 is at the position in readiness. At thattime, the connecting section 26C and the touch portion 26T are projectedoutwardly via the recess 20 b.

A distance LA shown in FIG. 4 from a center of the proximal end section26E to an end of the touch portion 26T is set so that the end reaches apredetermined position in the outer peripheral region of thesemiconductor device 36 or a semiconductor device 42 described later andthe distance LA is shorter than a distance LC from the center of thehole at the proximal end section 26E to the proximal end of the armsection 30H of the cover member 30.

Thereby, the latch mechanism is formed as a pressing member drivingmechanism by the pressing members 26 and 28, the cover member 30 and theinner groove 20 g.

Accordingly, when the cover member 30 is applied with an operative forcein the direction shown in FIG. 5 by an arrow from a position shown inFIG. 4 to a position shown in FIG. 5, the pressing member 26 is made tomove rotationally about the connecting pin 32 to occupy a reverselystanding-up position between the arm portion 30H directly beneath aframe portion of the cover member 30. As a result, as shown in FIG. 5,part of the touch portion 26T, 28T and part of the connecting section26C, 28C of the pressing member 26, 28 are bulged outwardly from the endof the bottom of the socket body 20 and the end of the cover member 30.

On the other hand, since the operative force lowers to the predeterminedvalue or less and the cover member 30 is released from the state shownin FIG. 3, the cover member 30 returns to the state shown in FIGS. 2 and4 by biasing force of coil springs 38.

In the first embodiment of the semiconductor device socket in accordancewith the present invention, if a semiconductor device 42 having thecontour dimension larger than that of the semiconductor device 36 andthe thickness and shape equal to those of the semiconductor device 36 ismounted to the socket body 20, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, a positioningmember 40 for accommodating the semiconductor device 42 is fixed to thefixation surface of the socket body 20 in place of the positioningmember 34.

The positioning member 40 has an accommodating section 40 a in theinterior thereof, for accommodating the semiconductor device 42 andlocating the electrode sections of the semiconductor device 42 to theterminals of the contact terminal 24 ai. The terminals of the contactterminals 24 ai are projected into the accommodating section 40 a. Inthe opposite walls forming the accommodating section 40 a, openings areprovided, respectively, for allowing the pressing members 26 and 28 topass through the same.

Also in such a structure, when the operative force is applied to thecover member 30 to move the latter from the position shown in FIG. 6 inthe direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 3, the pressing members 26, 28are made to move rotationally about the connecting pins 32 to be awayfrom each other while occupying the reversely standing-up positiondirectly beneath a frame portion of the cover member 30 between the armsections 30H. As a result, as shown in FIG. 3, part of the touchportions 26T and 28T and part of the connecting sections 26C and 28C ofthe pressing members 26 and 28 are bulged outwardly from the end of thebottom of the socket body 20 and the end of the cover member 30.

On the other hand, since the operative force becomes lower than thepredetermined value, the cover member 30 is released from the stateshown in FIG. 3 and returns to the state shown in FIG. 6 due to thebiasing force of the coil springs 38.

Accordingly, in the first embodiment of the semiconductor device socketin accordance with the present invention, it is possible to mount thesemiconductor device 36 or 42, each having the contour dimensiondifferent from the other to the socket body 20 while selectively fixingthe positioning member 36 or 42 to the socket body 20. Thereby, apredetermined test can be carried out while using the commonsemiconductor device socket sharing of the same constituent parts otherthan the positioning member 34 or 40. Also, since the pressing member 26or 28 is bulged outwardly from the socket body 20 and not restricted bythe inner circumferential dimension of the socket body 20, it ispossible to enhance the rigidity of the pressing member 26 or 28.

In this regard, in the above-mentioned embodiment and those describedlater, while a pair of pressing members 26 and 28 are provided, thenumber thereof not limited thereto but may be, for example, four incorrespondence to the respective sides of the semiconductor device 36 or42.

When the test of the semiconductor element 36 or 42 is carried out insuch a structure, as shown in FIG. 5, a tip end of an arm of a workrobot not shown touches to the upper surface of the cover member 30 andpresses it downward against the biasing force of the coil springs 38.Thus, the pressing members 26 and 28 are away from each other to be inan open state. Also, the semiconductor element 36 to be tested isconveyed to a position directly above the opening 30 a of the covermember 30 and the positioning member 34 while being held by suction by aconveyor arm of a conveyor robot not shown, for example.

Then, the semiconductor element 36 held by the conveyor robot by suctionis made to descend through the opening 30 a of the cover member 30 andpositioned and mounted to the accommodating section 34 a. Subsequently,the cover member 30 rises from the opening position to the uppermostposition due to the biasing force of the coil springs 38 when the tipend of the robot rises while touching to the upper surface of the covermember 30.

At that time, the touch portion 26T of the pressing member 26 and thetouch portion 28T of the pressing member 28 are made to moverotatationally generally at the same timing to press the semiconductorelement 36 toward the contact terminals 24 ai.

When a test signal is fed to the input/output section of the printedwiring board 22 while the cover member 30 is maintained at the uppermostposition, the test signal is transmitted via the contact terminals 24 aito the semiconductor element 36. If the abnormality is detected in thecircuit, an abnormality-detecting signal is generated from thesemiconductor element 36 and transmitted via the input/output section toan external diagnostic system.

When the test of the semiconductor element 36 has been completed, thetip end of the work robot touches to the upper surface of the covermember 30 and presses the same downward against the biasing force of thecoil springs 38 so that this semiconductor element 36 is removed and afresh semiconductor element is mounted in the same manner as describedbefore. The tested semiconductor device 36 is removed by the conveyorarm and the fresh semiconductor element 36 to be tested is mounted inthe same manner as described before.

FIG. 7 illustrates a state in which a plurality of semiconductor devicesockets of the first embodiment described above are arranged on theprinted wiring board 22. In this regard, in embodiments shown in FIG. 7and described later, the same reference numerals are used for denotingthe same constituent elements as in FIG. 1, and the explanation thereofwill be eliminated. FIGS. 7 and 9 illustrate a state in which the covermember 30 is at the lowermost position.

As shown in FIG. 8, the semiconductor device sockets adjacent to eachother are arranged at a predetermined gap in a row so that the pressingmembers 28 and 26 are opposed to each other. At that time, in the gapbetween the adjacent semiconductor device sockets, an electric part 46such as a capacitor is arranged on the printed wiring board 22.Accordingly, it is possible to effectively use a dead space on theprinted wiring board 22.

In this regard, in the embodiments shown in FIGS. 7, 8 and 10, thesemiconductor device sockets adjacent to each other are arranged in arow so that the pressing members 28 and 26 are opposed to each other.However, the arrangement should not be limited thereto but may be in astaggered manner so that the pressing members 28 and 26 are obliquelyopposed to each other as shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for example.

Accordingly, the pressing member 26 in one row of the semiconductordevice sockets extending in the Y-coordinate direction shown in FIG. 10is disposed between the adjacent two pressing members 28 in another rowextending adjacent in the X-coordinate direction vertical to theY-coordinate direction. As a result, since the mutual distance betweenone row and the other row adjacent to each other becomes shorter, thedead space is minimized to realize the high-density mounting of thesemiconductor device socket.

Further, while the pressing members 26 and 28 are arranged in the socketbody 20 to be just opposite to each other in the embodiment shown inFIG. 1, it is not indispensable but may be such that the pressingmembers 26′ and 28′ are provided in the socket body 20′ obliquelyopposite to each other, as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, in view of thehigh-density mounting of the semiconductor device sockets. In thisconnection, FIG. 13 illustrates a state in which the cover member 30 isat the lowermost position.

In this case, when the cover member 30 is at the lowermost position, asize of the respective recess 20′b provided in the socket body 20′ isselected such that both of the pressing members 26′ and 28′ in theadjacent socket bodies 20′ are accommodated therein while beingpartially overlapped with each other.

Thus, in such a case, since it is possible to further shorten the mutualdistance between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets in comparisonwith the above-mentioned embodiment, the density of the semiconductordevice sockets arranged in the X-coordinate direction can be increasedin FIG. 12 without arranging the sockets in a so-called staggered mannerin the Y-coordinate direction.

FIGS. 14 and 15 schematically illustrate the appearance of a firstmodification of the pressing member used in the above-mentioned firstembodiment. In this regard, in FIGS. 14 and 15, the same referencenumerals will be used for denoting the same constituent elements and theexplanation thereof will be eliminated.

In FIGS. 14 and 15, the pressing members 48 and 50 are disposed oppositeto each other in the recesses 20 b, respectively, of the socket bodies20. The pressing member 48 includes a proximal end section 48E having ahole for being inserted with the connecting pin 32 described abovetherein, an touch portion 48T selectively in contact with the outerperipheral region of the semiconductor device 36 or 42, and a connectingsection 48C for coupling the proximal end section 48E with the touchportion 48T.

The proximal end section 48E is held moveably rotationally at a lowerend of an arm section 30H via a connecting pin 32. In the connectingsection 48C, a guide pin engageable in a slidable manner with an innergroove 20 g is provided. This guide pin is the same as that shown inFIG. 4. The connecting section 48C and touch portion 48T are formed tobe deflected from a widthwise center line CL of the proximal end section48E to one side.

In a waiting state in which the pressing member 48 reversely stands up,the guide pin occupies a position in the vicinity of an open end of theinner groove 20 g. At that time, the connecting section 48C and thetouch portion 48T are bulged outwardly through the recess 20 b.

A distance from a center of the hole in the proximal end section 48E tothe end of the touch portion 48T is selected so that the touch portion48T reaches a predetermined position in the outer peripheral region ofthe semiconductor device 36 or 42 and the distance is shorter than adistance from the center of the hole of the proximal end section 48E tothe proximal end of the arm section 30H of the cover member 30.

On the other hand, the pressing member 50 includes a proximal endsection 50E having a hole for being inserted with the above-mentionedconnecting pin 32, an touch portion 50T selectively being in contactwith the outer peripheral region of the semiconductor device 36 or 42,and a connecting section 50C for coupling the proximal end section ofthe 50E with the touch portion 50T.

The proximal end section 50E is held moveably rotationally at the lowerend of the section 30H via the connecting pin 32. In the connectingsection 50C, a guide pin engageable with the inner groove 20 g in aslidable manner is provided. This guide pin is the same as that shown inFIG. 4. The connecting section 50C and the touch portion 50T are formedto be deflected from a widthwise center line CL of the proximal endsection 48E to the other side, so that they are symmetrical with theconnecting section 48C and the touch portion 48T of the pressing member48.

When the pressing member 50 is at the position in readiness in which itreversely stands up, the guide pin is located in the vicinity of theopen end of the inner groove 20 g. At that time, the connecting section50C and the touch portion 50T are bulged outwardly through the recess 20b.

A distance from a center of the hole of the proximal end section 50E tothe end of touch portion 50T is selected in the same manner as thepressing member 48.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 14, when the semiconductor device socketsare arranged so that the connecting section 48C and the touch portion48T of the pressing member 48 and the connecting section 50C and thetouch portion 50T of the pressing member 50 are overlapped with eachother at a predetermined gap between the both as shown in FIG. 15, themutual distance between the adjacent semiconductor device socketsbecomes furthermore smaller to facilitate the high-density arrangementof the semiconductor device sockets.

FIGS. 16 and 17 schematically illustrate the appearance of a secondmodification of the pressing members used in the above-mentioned firstembodiment. In this regard, in FIGS. 16 and 17, the same referencenumerals as those used in FIGS. 1 and 2 are used for denoting the sameconstituent elements, and the explanation thereof will be eliminated.

In FIGS. 16 and 17, a pressing member 52 is located in the recess 20 bof the socket body 20. The pressing member 52 includes a proximal endsection 52E having a hole to be inserted with the above-mentioned pin32, an touch portion 52T selectively in contact with the outerperipheral region of the semiconductor device 36 or 42, and a connectingsection 52C for coupling the proximal end section 52E with the touchportion 52T.

In a boundary between the proximal end section 52E and the connectingsection 52C, a recess 52R is formed. The proximal end section 52E isheld moveably rotationally at the lower end of the section 30H via theconnecting pin 32. There is a guide pin engaged with the inner groove 20g in a slidable manner at the connecting section 52C. The guide pin isthe same as that shown in FIG. 4.

In a waiting state in which the pressing member 28 reversely stands up,the guide pin is located in the vicinity of the open end of the innergroove. At that time, the connecting section 52C and the touch portion52T are bulged outwardly through the recess 20 b.

A distance from a center of the hole in the proximal end section 52E tothe end of the touch portion 52T is selected so that the touch portionreaches a predetermined position in the outer peripheral region of thesemiconductor device 36 or 42 and the distance is shorter than adistance from the center of the hole in the proximal end section 52E toa proximal end of the arm section 30H of the cover member 30.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 17, when two semiconductor device socketsare disposed adjacent to each other at a predetermined gap between them,so that the connecting section 28C of the pressing member 28 in onesemiconductor device socket enters a recess 52R of the pressing member52 in the other semiconductor device socket, the mutual distance betweenboth the semiconductor device sockets becomes furthermore smaller,whereby the semiconductor devices can be mounted at a higher density.

FIGS. 18A, 18B, 19A and 19B schematically illustrate a main part of asecond embodiment of the inventive semiconductor device socket.

In FIG. 18A, the semiconductor device socket mainly includes a socketbody 21 similar to that used in the above-mentioned embodiment, to bemounted onto a printed circuit board (not shown), a plurality of contactterminals (not shown) disposed in a contact accommodating sectionprovided in a central portion of the socket body 21, for electricallyconnecting the semiconductor device with the printed circuit board, acover member 29 held by the socket body 21 to be movableupward/downward, for transmitting an operative force to a latchmechanism described later, a positioning member 33 supported by thesocket body 21 in a detachable manner, for accommodating thesemiconductor device 36 to be tested and positioning the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 36 to the contact terminals (notshown), and a latch mechanism including pressing members 25 and 27 forholding and pressing the electrode sections of the semiconductor device36 accommodated in the positioning member 33 to the plurality of contactterminals. In this regard, a plurality of semiconductor device socketsshown in FIGS. 18A and 18B are arranged at positions corresponding tothe respective electro-conductive layers in the printed circuit board.In FIGS. 18A and 18B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative.

The plurality of contact terminals (not shown) arranged in the contactaccommodating section have the same structure as those shown in FIG. 1.

The socket body 21 has a recess 21 b at each of opposite ends, forallowing the lower end of the arm section of the cover member 29 toenter and disposing the proximal end of the rotating pressing member 25or 27 therein. The respective recess 21 b is opened to outside. A coilspring 23 is disposed between the proximal end of the pressing member 25or 27 and the bottom defining part of the respective recess 21 b, forrotating a tip end of the pressing member 25 or 27 toward the contactaccommodating section so that they are closer to each other. Further,there are a plurality of coil springs not shown between the cover member29 and the socket body 21 for biasing the cover member 20 upward.

In the periphery of the contact accommodating section, a fixationsurface is formed for placing and fixing the positioning member 33. Apositioning member 39 described later is also placed on the fixationsurface.

The positioning member 33 has an accommodating section 33 a therein foraccommodating the semiconductor device 36 and positioning the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 36 to contact elements of theabove-mentioned contact terminals. The contact elements of the contactterminals are projected in the accommodating section 33 a. In oppositewalls forming the accommodating section 33 a, openings 33 b are formedfor allowing the pressing members 25 and 27 to pass through the same.

The cover member 29 has an opening 29 a at a center thereof for allowingthe semiconductor device 36 to pass through the same when thesemiconductor device 36 is mounted or removed. The cover member 29 isheld to be movable upward and downward while a plurality of legs of thecover member are guided along grooves formed in the periphery of thesocket body 21. At this time, a lower end of the arm section of thedescending cover member 29 is disposed such that the proximal ends ofthe pressing members 25 and 27 are opposite to each other. Accordingly,the lower end of the arm section of the descending cover member 29engages with the proximal end of the pressing member 25 or 27 againstthe bias of the coil spring 23 to press the same, whereby as shown inFIG. 18B, the proximal ends of the pressing members 25 and 27 are madeto rotate to separate the tip ends thereof away from each other.

Since the pressing members 25 and 27 is of the same structure, theexplanation will be made solely on the pressing member 25 and theexplanation of the pressing member 27 will be eliminated.

The pressing member 25 includes a proximal end section 25E supported forrotation at the periphery of the recess 21 b, an touch portion 25Tselectively in contact with the outer peripheral region of thesemiconductor device 36, and a connecting section 25C coupling theproximal end section 25E with the touch portion 25T.

The positioning member 33 has an accommodating section 33 a therein foraccommodating the semiconductor device 36 and locating the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 36 to the contact elements of theabove-mentioned contact terminals. In the accommodating section, thecontact elements of the contact terminals are projected. In the oppositewalls defining the accommodating section 33 a, there are openings,respectively, for allowing the pressing members 25 and 27 to passthrough them.

The cover member 29 has an opening 33 b at a center thereof, forallowing the semiconductor device 36 to pass through it when thesemiconductor device 36 is mounted and removed. The cover member 29 isheld to be movable upward and downward by the engagement of a pluralityof legs thereof with the respective grooves formed on the outercircumference of the socket body 21. At this time, a lower end of thearm section of the descending cover member 29 is opposed to the proximalend of the pressing member 25 or 27. Accordingly, the lower end of thearm section of the descending cover member 29 engages with the proximalend of the pressing member 25 or 27 and pushes the same against the biasof the coil spring 23, whereby as shown FIG. 18B, the proximal end ofthe pressing member 25 or 27 is made to rotate so that the tip end ofthe pressing member 25 or 27 is away from the other.

Since the pressing members 25 and 27 has the same structure, theexplanation will be made solely on the pressing member 25 and eliminatedon the pressing member 27.

The pressing member 25 includes a proximal end section 25E supported forrotation at opposite ends thereof by the periphery of the recess 21 b,an touch portion 25T selectively in contact with the outer peripheralregion of the semiconductor device 36, and a connecting section 25C forcoupling the proximal end section 25E with the touch portion 25T.

The proximal end section 25E has an arm-receiving section forselectively being in contact with the lower end of the arm section ofthe cover member 29 at a position away by a predetermined distance fromthe rotary center of the arm section. A distance LB from the rotarycenter of the proximal end section 25E to a point at which one end ofthe connecting section 25C is coupled is larger than a distance from therotary center of the proximal section 25E to an end of the opening ofthe recess 21 b in the socket body 21 as shown in FIG. 18B. A distanceLA from the rotary center of the proximal end section 25E to the tip endof the touch portion 25T is such that the tip end of the touch portion25T reaches the upper surface of the semiconductor device 36 or 42 whenthe touch portion 25T is pressed as shown in FIGS. 18A and 19A, and inthe position in readiness, the touch portion 25T is within the openingof the cover member 29 as shown in FIG. 18B. That is, the distance LA isselected so that when the cover member 29 is at the lowermost position,the tip end of the touch portion 25T does not interfere with theperiphery of the opening of the cover member 29. Thereby, when the covermember 29 is at the lowermost position, the connecting section 25C andthe touch portion 25T bulge out through the recess 21 b and the openingof the cover member 29.

Accordingly, the latch mechanism is formed of the pressing members 25and 27, the cover member 29 and the coil spring 23 and operates as apressing member drive mechanism.

If the operative force is applied to the cover member 29 from theposition shown in FIG. 18A to the position shown in FIG. 18B in thedirection shown by an arrow, the pressing member 25 is made to rotateabout the rotary center thereof, and occupies a reversely standing-upposition within the opening and the recess 21 b directly beneath theframe portion of the cover member 29. As a result, as shown in FIG. 18B,part of the touch portions 25T and 27T and part of the connectingsections 25C and 27T are bulged out from an end of the bottom of thesocket body 21 and an end of the cover member 29.

On the other hand, the cover member 29 returns from a state shown inFIG. 18B to a state shown in FIG. 18A due to the bias of the coil spring23 when the operative force becomes smaller than the predeterminedvalue.

In the second embodiment of the inventive semiconductor device socket,when a semiconductor device 42 having a contour dimension larger thanthat of the semiconductor device 36 and a thickness and a shape equal tothose of the semiconductor device 36 is mounted to the socket body 21,instead of the positioning member 34, a positioning member 39 foraccommodating the semiconductor device 42 is fixed onto the fixationsurface of the socket body 21 as shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B.

The positioning member 39 has an accommodating section 39 a therein foraccommodating the semiconductor device 42 and positioning the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 42 to the contact elements of thecontact terminals. In the accommodating section 39 a, the contactelements of the contact terminals are projected. In the opposite wallsdefining the accommodating section 39 a, openings for allowing thepressing members 25 and 27 to pass through them, respectively, areformed.

Also in this structure, when the operative force is applied to the covermember 29 in the direction shown by an arrow in FIG. 19A to move thecover member 29 as shown in FIG. 19B, the pressing members 25 and 27 aremade to rotate about centers thereof so that the both are away from eachother. Thereby, the pressing members 25 and 27 are in a reverselystanding-up state in the opening and the recess 21 b at a positiondirectly beneath the frame portion of the cover member 29. As a result,as shown in FIG. 19B, part of the touch portions 25T and 27T and part ofthe connecting sections 25C and 27C of the pressing members 25 and 27are bulged outward from an end of the bottom of the socket body 21 andan end of the cover member 29.

On the other hand, if the operative force becomes smaller than thepredetermined value and the cover member 29 is released from the stateshown in FIG. 19B, the cover member 29 returns to the state shown inFIG. 19A due to the bias of the coil spring.

Accordingly, also in the second embodiment of the invectivesemiconductor device socket, it is possible to mount the semiconductordevices 36 and 42 having the contour dimension different from each otheron the socket body 21 and carry out various tests by selectively fix thepositioning members 36 and 42, respectively, to the socket body 21 inaccordance with the semiconductor devices 36 and 42. Further, it ispossible to commonly use constituent elements of the socket body otherthan the positioning members 33 and 39. Also, since the pressing members25 and 27 are bulged outward from the socket body 21, they are notrestricted by the dimension of the interior of the socket body 21 tofacilitate the rigidity of the pressing members 25 and 27.

In addition, in the second embodiment of the inventive semiconductordevice socket, modifications shown in FIGS. 7, 10, 12, 14 and 16,respectively, may, of course, be applied.

FIGS. 20A and 20B schematically illustrate a main part of a thirdembodiment of the inventive semiconductor device socket.

The semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B are arrangedat positions on the printed wiring board 22 corresponding to therespective electro-conductive layers. In FIGS. 20A and 20B, only onesemiconductor device socket is shown as a representative In this regard,in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the same reference numerals are used for denotingthe same elements in FIGS. 19A and 19B and the description thereof willbe eliminated. Even in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, in thesame manner as in the above-mentioned embodiment, semiconductor device36 or 42 can be mounted onto the socket body 80 by using positioningmember 33 or 39.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 19A and 19B, while part of the pressingmembers 25 and 27 are directly bulged outward from the socket body 21and the end of the cover member 29 when the cover member 29 is at thelowermost position, in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, aconvex section 84P encircling end surfaces of the pressing members 25and 27 in the thickness direction is provided on the opposite sides inthe frame portion of the cover member 84 in correspondence to thepressing members 25 and 27 so that part of the pressing members 25 and27 are not-directly bulged from the ends of the socket body 80 and thecover member 84, as shown in FIG. 22.

As shown in FIG. 23, the socket body 80 has a recess 80 b, into whichenter a lower end of an arm section, the convex section 4P and theproximal ends of the pressing members 25 and 27 when the cover member 84described later is lowered. The recess 80 b opens to outside. At acenter of the interior of the socket body 80, a recess in which contactterminals not shown are disposed in correspondence to the electrodesections of the semiconductor device 36 is formed. The contact terminalsextend in the direction generally vertical to the printed wiring board22. Around the recess, a fixation surface on which the positioningmember 33 is placed and fixed is formed. In this regard, on the fixationsurface, a positioning member 39 described later is also placed in adetachable manner.

The cover member 84 has an opening 84 a in a central portion thereof forallowing the semiconductor device 36 to pass through the same during theattachment/detachment thereof. The cover member 84 is supported to bemovable upward and downward by a plurality of legs thereof guidedthrough grooves formed on the outer circumference of the socket body 80.Between the proximal ends of the pressing members 25 and 27 and a bottomforming part of the recess 80 b of the socket body 80, there areplurality of coil springs not shown for biasing the pressing members 25and 27 to be close to each other.

The cover member 84 has an arm section (not shown) engaged with andpushing arm receiving sections provided at proximal ends of the pressingmembers 25 and 27, which arm section is formed at a lower end of theconvex portion 84P while being opposed to the recess 80 b. A lower endof the section is projected toward the arm receiving section and therecess 80 b.

The convex portion 84P has an opening 84 b for allowing the pressingmembers 25 and 27 to pass through the same. The opening 84 bcommunicates the interior of the cover member 84 to the exteriorthereof.

As shown in FIG. 23, a length of the opening 84 b is definite in theupward/downward direction. That is, the length is such that, when thecover member 84 is at the uppermost position, the coupled pressingmembers 25 and 27 are in a pressed and held state, while when the covermember 84 is at the lowermost position, the pressing members 25 and 27are at the position in readiness, in which the lower end of the armsection is engaged with the arm receiving section and the touch portionsof the pressing members 25 and 27 are not in contact with the peripheryof the opening 84 b as shown in 20B.

Accordingly, also in this embodiment, it is possible to selectivelymount each of the semiconductor devices 36 and 42 having contourdimensions different from each other on the socket body by fixing aproper positioning members onto the socket body 80 in accordance withthe semiconductor devices 36 and 42 and carry out the predeterminedtests. In this case, since other constituent elements in thesemiconductor device socket other than the positioning members arecommonly usable and there is no limitation in the inner peripheraldimension of the socket body 80, it is possible to facilitate therigidity of the pressing members 25 and 27.

FIGS. 21 and 22 illustrate a state in which a plurality of semiconductordevice sockets in the above-mentioned third embodiment are disposed onthe printed wiring board 22. In this regard, in FIGS. 21 and 22, thesame reference numerals are used for denoting the same elements in FIG.19A and the description thereof will be eliminated. FIG. 21 shows astate in which the cover member 84 is at the lowermost position.

The adjacent semiconductor device sockets are arranged in one row at apitch so that the pressing members 25 and 27 are opposed to each otheras shown in FIG. 22. At this time, an electric part 46 such as acapacitor is disposed on the printed wiring board 22 in a space betweenthe adjacent semiconductor device sockets. Accordingly, a dead space onthe printed wiring board 22 is effectively usable.

FIGS. 24A and 24B schematically illustrate a main part of a fourthembodiment of the inventive semiconductor device socket.

In FIGS. 24A and 24B, a plurality of semiconductor device sockets arepractically arranged on the printed wiring board 22 at positions incorrespondence to the predetermined electro-conductive layers. In FIGS.24A and 24B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative. In this regard, in FIGS. 24A and 24B, the same referencenumerals are used for denoting the same elements in FIG. 19A and thedescription thereof will be eliminated. Also in the embodiment shown inFIGS. 24A and 24B, in the same manner as in the above-mentioned secondembodiment, the semiconductor device 36 or 42 is mounted on a socketbody 90 by a positioning member 33 or 39.

In the third embodiment shown in FIGS. 20A and 20B, the lower end cornerof the convex portion 84P of the cover member 84 is projected from theend of the socket body 80. On the contrary, in the embodiment shown inFIGS. 24A and 24B, there is a cut 86S at a lower end corner of a convexportion 86P of a cover member 86 and a chamfered portion 90R at an endof a socket body 90. Thereby, at each end of the socket body 90 incorrespondence to the convex portion 86P of the cover member 86, thereis a recess at a position inner than a plane common to an end surface ofthe convex portion 86P of the cover member 86.

The socket body 90 has a recess 90 b at each of opposite ends forallowing the lower end of the arm section thereof, the convex portion86P and the proximal ends of the pressing members 25 and 27 to enterwhen the cover member 86 described later is lowered as shown in FIGS.24A and 26. The recess 90 b opens to outside.

The cover member 86 has an opening 86 a in a central region thereof forallowing the semiconductor device 36 or 42 to pass through the sameduring the attachment/detachment of the semiconductor device 36 or 42.The cover member 86 is supported to be movable upward and downward by aplurality of legs thereof guided through grooves formed on the outercircumference of the socket body 90. Between the proximal ends of thepressing members 25 and 27 and a bottom forming part of the recess 90 bof the socket body 90, there are plurality of coil springs for biasingthe pressing members 25 and 27 to be close to each other.

The cover member 86 has an arm section (not shown) engaged with theproximal ends of the pressing members 26 and 28 while being opposed tothe recess 90 b. A lower end of the section is projected toward therecess 90 b.

The convex portion 86P has an opening 86 b for allowing the pressingmembers 25 and 27 to pass through the same. The opening 86 bcommunicates the interior of the cover member 86 to the exteriorthereof.

As shown in FIG. 26, a length of the opening 86 b is definite in theupward/downward direction. That is, the length is such that, when thecover member 86 is at the uppermost position, the pressing members 25and 27 are in a pressed and held state, while when the cover member 86is at the lowermost position, the pressing members 25 and 27 are at theposition in readiness, in which the lower end of the arm section isengaged with the proximal ends of the pressing members 25 and 27 and thepressing members 25 and 27 are not in contact with the periphery of theopening 86 b as shown in 24B.

Accordingly, also in this embodiment, it is possible to obtain the sameeffect and operation as in the above-mentioned embodiment.

FIGS. 25 and 27 illustrate a state in which a plurality of theabove-mentioned inventive semiconductor device sockets according to thefourth embodiment are arranged on the printed wiring board 22. FIG. 27shows that the cover member 86 is at the lowermost position.

The adjacent semiconductor device sockets are arranged in one row at apredetermined gap between the both so that the pressing members 25 and27 are opposite to each other, as shown in FIG. 25. At this time, anelectric part 46 such as a capacitor is disposed on the printed wiringboard 22 in a space between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets.Accordingly, a dead space on the printed wiring board 22 is effectivelyusable.

FIGS. 28 and 29 illustrate a modification of the fourth embodiment ofthe inventive semiconductor device socket.

While the convex portion 86P of the cover member 86P and the recess 90 bof the socket body 90 are arranged so that they are directly opposed toeach other in the embodiment shown in FIG. 25, a convex portion 86′P ofa cover member 86′ and a recess 90′b of a socket body 90′ are arrangedso that they are obliquely opposed to each other for minimizing themutual distance between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets forrealizing the high-density mounting.

The socket body 90′ has a recess 90′b at each of opposite ends forallowing the lower end of the arm section thereof, the convex portion86′P and the proximal ends of the pressing members 26 and 28 to enterwhen the cover member 86′ is lowered as shown in FIG. 29. On the otherhand, one recess 90′b is deviated leftward relative to a center line inFIG. 30 and opens to outside. Also, the other recess 90′b is deviatedrightward relative to the center line as seen in the same direction.

The cover member 86′ has an opening 86′a in a central region forallowing the semiconductor device 36 or 42 to pass through the sameduring the attachment/detachment thereof.

The cover member 86′ has arm sections (not shown) at a lower end of theconvex portion 86′b, engageable with the pressing members 25 and 27,respectively. A lower end of the arm section is projected toward therecess 90′b.

The convex portion 86′P has an opening 86′b for allowing the pressingmembers 25 and 27 to pass through the same. The opening 86′bcommunicates the interior of the cover member 86′ to the exteriorthereof.

Accordingly, by arranging the convex portions 86′P of the adjacentsemiconductor device sockets to overlap with each other as shown inFIGS. 28 and 29, it is possible to realize the high-density mounting ofthe semiconductor device sockets on the printed wiring board 22.

FIGS. 31A and 31B show a fifth embodiment of the inventive semiconductordevice socket.

A plurality of semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 31A and 31Bare practically arranged on the printed wiring board 22 at positions incorrespondence to the predetermined electro-conductive layers. In FIGS.31A and 31B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative. Although not illustrated, in the same manner as in theabove-described first embodiment, the semiconductor device 36 or 42 ismounted on a socket body 80 by a positioning member 34 or 40.

While the part of the pressing members 25 and 27 are directly projectedoutside from the socket body 21 and the cover member 29 when the covermember 29 is at the lowermost position in the embodiment shown in FIGS.19A and 19B, a convex portion 102P encircling each of thethickness-directional end surfaces of the pressing members 25 and 27 isprovided at opposite ends of the socket body 102 in correspondence tothe pressing members 25 and 27 as shown in FIG. 32 so that part of thepressing members 25 and 27 is not directly projected outside from thesocket body 102 and the end of the cover member 100.

The socket body 102 has a recess 102 b at each of opposite ends thereoffor allowing a lower end of an arm section of the cover member 100 and aproximal end of the pressing members 25 and 27 to enter when the covermember 100 is lowered as shown in FIGS. 31B and 33. The recess 102 b isopened to outside. In the recess 102 b, the convex portion 102P isformed integral with the socket body 102 opposite thereto whileinterposing the pressing members 25 and 27. An opening between theconvex portions 102P communicates the interior of the socket body 102 tothe exterior thereof.

In a central region of the interior of the socket body 102, a recess(not shown) is formed, in which arranged contact terminals are not shownin correspondence to electrode sections of the semiconductor devices 36and 42. The contact terminal extends in the direction generally verticalto the printed wiring board 22. Around the recess, a fixation surface isformed on which a positioning member 33 not shown is placed and fixed.In this regard, on the fixation surface, a positioning member 39 is alsoplaced in a detachable manner.

The cover member 100 has an opening 10 a in a central region forallowing the semiconductor device 36 or 42 to pass through the sameduring the attachment/detachment thereof. The cover member 100 issupported to be movable upward and downward by a plurality of legsthereof guided through grooves formed on the outer circumference of thesocket body 102. Between the proximal ends of the pressing members 25and 27 and a bottom forming part of the recess 102 b of the socket body102, there are plurality of coil springs not shown for biasing thepressing members 25 and 27 to be close to each other.

A lower end of an arm section of the cover member 100 is projectedtoward the recess 102 b.

An opening 100 b is formed in a portion of the cover member 100corresponding to the pressing members 25 and 27 and the convex portion102P of the socket body 102 as shown in FIG. 33.

Accordingly, also in this embodiment, it is possible to selectivelymount each of the semiconductor devices 36 and 42 having contourdimensions different from each other on the socket body 102 by fixing aproper positioning members onto the socket body 102 in accordance withthe semiconductor devices 36 and 42 and carry out the predeterminedtests. In this case, since other constituent elements in thesemiconductor device socket other than the positioning members arecommonly usable and there is no limitation in the inner peripheraldimension of the socket body 102, it is possible to facilitate therigidity of the pressing members 25 and 27.

FIGS. 32 and 34 illustrate a state in which a plurality of semiconductordevice sockets in the above-mentioned fifth embodiment are disposed onthe, printed wiring board 22. In this regard, in FIGS. 32 and 34, thesame reference numerals are used for denoting the same elements in FIGS.19A and 19B and the description thereof will be eliminated. FIG. 34shows a state in which the cover member 100 is at the lowermostposition.

The adjacent semiconductor device sockets are arranged in one row at apitch so that the pressing members 25 and 27 are opposed to each otheras shown in FIG. 32. At this time, an electric part 46 such as acapacitor is disposed on the printed wiring board 22 in a space betweenthe adjacent semiconductor device sockets. Accordingly, a dead space onthe printed wiring board 22 is effectively usable.

In this regard, while the cover member 30 and the pressing members 26and 28 of the latch mechanism are associated with each other and thecontact terminal is a so-called “POGOPIN” (registered trade mark) in therespective embodiments of the inventive semiconductor device socketdescribed hereinabove, such a structure is not indispensable. Asdisclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent No. 3257994 and JapanesePatent Application Laying-open No. 10-302925 (1998), the terminal of thesemiconductor may be nipped by a pair of contact terminals having amovable contact openable in one direction or both directions.

Also, as shown in Japanese Patent No. 3257994, the respectiveembodiments of the inventive semiconductor device socket may be, ofcourse, applicable to a structure in which the pressing member in thelatch mechanism is not coupled to the cover member but a pair of movablecontacts of the contact terminal and the pressing member of the latchmechanism are operated via the slider associated with the cover memberor the cover member itself.

FIGS. 35 and 36 show a sixth embodiment of the inventive semiconductordevice socket.

In the respective embodiments described above, the cover member issupported by the outer circumference of the socket body to be movableupward and downward. On the other hand, in the embodiment shown in FIGS.35 and 36, a cover member 112 is separated from a socket body 110 andsupported by a hand of a conveyor robot not shown. In this regard, theconveyor robot not shown is disposed directly above a socket body 110and controlled to move upward and downward so that the cover member 112is closer to or away from the socket body 110 based in a command inaccordance with a predetermined program. FIGS. 35 and 36 illustrate astate in which the cover member 112 is completely apart from the socketbody 110.

The cover member 112 is supported by a hand of the conveyor robot viacoil springs SP. The coil spring SP biases the cover member 112 to beaway from the hand of the conveyor robot.

The cover member 112 has an opening 112 a in a central region forallowing a semiconductor device 36 or 42 to pass through the same duringthe attachment/detachment thereof. On longer sides of a frame portion ofthe cover member 112, cam sections 112N to be engaged with a slidemember 119 of the socket body 110 described later are provided at apredetermined gap on the lower end surface thereof. Between the camsections 112N on the respective sides, a pair of arm sections 112A to beengaged with pressing members 114 and 116 of the socket body 110described later are formed integral with the cover member 112 at apredetermined gap between the both. A cut 112 b is formed between thearm sections 112A. On shorter sides of the frame portion of the covermember 112, there are claws 100 m to be engaged with cuts 110 mof thesocket body 110 shown in FIG. 37. The cam sections 112N, the armsections 112A and claws 110 m are projected toward the socket body 110.

The socket body 110 is fixed to a printed wiring board 22. The socketbody 110 is located relative to an electro-conductive section of theprinted wiring board 22 by positioning pins 110P provided on the bottomof the socket body 110.

The socket body 110 includes a slider member 119 for electricallyconnecting contact sections of a contact terminal group not shown toelectrode sections of a selectively mounted semiconductor device 36 or42, positioning members 113 detachably mounted to the slider member 119for locating the contact sections of the contact terminal group relativeto the electrode sections of the above-mentioned semiconductor device36, or positioning members detachably mounted to the slider member 119for locating the contact sections of the contact terminal group relativeto the electrode sections of the above-mentioned semiconductor device42, pressing members 114 and 116 for holding the mounted semiconductordevice 36 or 42, and coil springs 118 for biasing tip ends of thepressing members 114 and 116 in the mutually approaching direction.

Terminals constituting the contact terminal group not shown are arrangedin a recess formed in a central region of the socket body 110. Therespective contact terminal has a pair of movable contacts at one endthereof for selectively nipping the electrode section of thesemiconductor device 36 or 42 for the electric connection. The other endof the contact terminal is electrically connected to theelectro-conductive section of the printed wiring board 22.

The slider member 119 of a flat plate shape has a guide sections 119 gengageable with grooves 110G formed in the socket body 110 generallyparallel to each other to be slidable in the direction generallyvertical to a paper surface in FIG. 36. The slider member 119 has in acentral region a lattice-shaped pressing section disposed between themovable contacts of the respective contact terminal described above sothat one movable contact is close to or away from the other. On each ofboth sides of the slider member 119, a cam follower surface 119CAengageable with the above-mentioned cam section 112N is formed. The camfollower surface 119CA is formed to intersect a surface of the covermember 112 opposed to the slider member 119. A portion in which the camfollower surface 119CA is formed is supported in a slidable manner on ashoulder formed on an upper end surface of each the opposite side wallsof the socket body 110. In the vicinity of each the shoulder, a groove110 sg is formed, into which the cam section 112N is inserted as shownin FIG. 38. Between the grooves 110 sg, there is a cut 110 n forallowing the pressing members 114 and 116 to pass through the same andfor receiving the arm sections 112A of the cover member 112.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 38, when the cam section 112N of the cover member112 is engaged with the cam follower surface 119CA, the slider member119 is moved in the direction shown by an arrow FM in FIG. 38 at apredetermined distance, whereby the movable contacts of the respectivecontact terminal are away from each other. Accordingly, the electrodesection of the semiconductor device 36 or 42 is capable of beingdisposed between the movable contacts of the respective contactterminal. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 35, when the cam section112N of the cover member 112 is away from the cam follower surface110CA, the slider member 119 is biased by a biasing member not shown inthe direction opposite to that shown by the arrow FM in FIG. 38.

Since the positioning member 113 and that for the semiconductor device42 are similar to each other, the explanation will be done solely on thepositioning member 113 and eliminated on the other positioning member.

The positioning member 113 has a plurality of holes engageable with aplurality of pins, respectively, provided on the mounting surface of theslider member 119. By the engagement of the holes with the pins, thepositioning member 113 is supported on the mounting surface of theslider member 119. In this regard, the plurality of pins are usedcommonly to the positioning member for the semiconductor device 42.

The positioning member 113 has four positioning corners to be engagedwith the respective corners of the semiconductor device 36. A cut isformed between the corners.

Since the pressing members 114 and 116 has the same structure, theexplanation will be done on the pressing member 114 and eliminated onthe pressing member 116.

The pressing member 114 includes a proximal end section 114E held forrotation by the socket body 110, an touch portion 114T in contact withand pressed onto the upper surface of the semiconductor device 36 or 42,and a connecting section 114C for connecting the proximal end section114E with the touch portion 114T.

The proximal end section 114E is held for rotation at a center thereofby the socket body 110. The above-mentioned coil spring 118 is arrangedbeneath the proximal end section 114E.

There are arm receiving sections 114R pushed by the arm section 112A atopposite ends of the proximal end section 114E. The arm receivingsection 114R is deviated from a rotary center of the proximal endsection 114E toward the outside of the socket body 110. Accordingly, asshown in FIG. 39, when the arm receiving section 114R is pushed by thearm section 112A, the pressing member 114 is made to rotate to be awayfrom the pressing member 116.

A length between the rotary center of the proximal end section 114E anda curved tip end of the touch portion 114T is selected so that the tipend of the touch portion 114T reaches a predetermined position on theupper surface of the mounted semiconductor device 36 or 42. Also, alength from the rotary center of the proximal end section 114E to oneend of the connecting section 114C is selected, as shown in FIG. 39, tobe projected outward when pushed by the arm section 112A of the covermember 112.

Also in this structure, as shown in FIG. 38, when the are section 112Aof the cover member 112 is lowered from a position shown in FIG. 35, thepressing members 114 and 116 are made to rotate away from each otherabout the rotary centers thereof so that each is reversely stood up inthe opening 112 b at a position directly beneath the frame portion ofthe cover member 112. As a result, as shown in FIG. 39, part of theproximal end section and the connecting section of the pressing member114, 116 is bulged outward from the respective side wall of the socketbody 110. At this time, the slider member 119 is moved as shown in FIG.40, and after the semiconductor device 36, for example, is locateddirectly above the positioning member 113 as shown in FIG. 39, ismounted to the positioning member 113 through the opening 112 a.

Then, when the cover member 112 is elevated, the pressing members 114and 116 return to a state shown in FIG. 36 due to the bias of the coilsprings 118 to hold the semiconductor device 36 or 42.

Accordingly, also in this embodiment, it is possible to carry outvarious tests by selectively fix the positioning member to the slidermember 119 in accordance with the semiconductor devices 36 and 42 havingthe contour dimension different from each other. Further, it is possibleto commonly use constituent elements of the socket body other than thepositioning members. Also, since the pressing members are bulged outwardfrom the socket body 110, they are not restricted by the dimension ofthe interior of the socket body 110 to facilitate the rigidity of thepressing members 114 and 116.

FIGS. 41A and 41B schematically illustrate a whole structure of aseventh embodiment of the inventive semiconductor device socket.

A plurality of semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 41A and 41Bare arranged on the printed wiring board 22 at positions incorrespondence to the respective electro-conductive layers. In FIGS. 41Aand 41B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative.

The semiconductor device socket includes a socket body 60 fixed onto theprinted circuit body 22, a plurality of contact terminals 24 ai (i=1 ton, n is a positive integer) arranged in a contact accommodating section60 a in a central region of the socket body 60, for electricallyconnecting a semiconductor device 76 described later to the printedwiring board 22, a cover member 70 supported by the socket body 60 to bemovable upward and downward for transmitting the operative force to alatch mechanism, a positioning member (not shown) held by the socketbody 60 in a detachable manner, for accommodating the semiconductordevice 76 to be tested and for locating electrode sections of thesemiconductor device 76 to the contact terminals 24 ai, and pressingmembers 66 and 68 for pressing the respective electrode sections of thesemiconductor device 76 accommodated in the positioning member towardthe plurality of contact terminals 24 ai.

In this regard, also in this semiconductor device socket, in place ofthe semiconductor device 76, another semiconductor device 82 having thesame shape and thickness as those of the semiconductor device 76 butdifferent in contour dimension may be mounted to the socket body 60 byusing a predetermined positioning member (not shown) for thesemiconductor device 82, in the same manner as in the above-mentionedfirst embodiment. The semiconductor device 76 or 82 may be, for example,of a generally square shape such as BGA type or LGA-type, having anelectrode surface on which a plurality of electrode sections arearranged in the vertical and horizontal directions. A contour dimensionof the semiconductor device 82 is larger than that of the semiconductordevice 76.

A recess 60 a is formed at a center of the interior of the socket body60, in which the contact terminals 24 ai are arranged in correspondenceto the electrode sections of the semiconductor device 76. Around therecess 60 a, there is a fixation surface on which the positioning membernot shown is disposed and fixed. In this regard, the positioning member(not shown) for the semiconductor device 82 is also placed on thefixation surface in a detachable manner.

On the fixation surface, inner grooves 60 g for guiding guide pins ofthe engaged pressing members 66 and 68 in a movable manner are formedaround the recess 60 a. The inner groove 60 g opens at opposite endsthereof and extends generally parallel to the fixation surface.

In the vicinity of the respective inner groove 60 g in the socket body60, a cut (not shown) is formed for allowing part of the pressingmembers 66 and 68.

The above-mentioned positioning member has the same structure as those34 and 40 in the first embodiment.

The cover member 70 has an opening in a central region thereof forallowing the semiconductor device 76 or 82 to pass through the sameduring the attachment/detachment thereof. The cover member 70 is held tobe movable upward and downward by the engagement of a plurality of legsthereof with the respective grooves formed on the outer circumference ofthe socket body 60. There are a plurality of coil springs 78 between theinner surface of the cover member 70 opposed to the positioning memberand the socket body 60, for biasing the cover member 70 upward, i.e., inthe direction for separating the cover member 70 from the positioningmember. At this time, the cover member 70 is held at the uppermostposition shown in FIG. 18A by the engagement of claws provided at tipends of the legs of the cover member 70 with ends of the grooves.

At pair of opposite sides, the cover member 70 has arm sections 70Hcoupled to the proximal end sections of the pressing members 66 and 68described later via connecting pins 72. The arm section 70H has a cutfor receiving the proximal end sections of the pressing members 66 and68. There is a relief 70R in the inner circumference of the cover member70 connected to the upper end of the arm section 70H. On the other hand,the lower end of the arm section 70H is projected to the periphery ofthe outer surface of the socket body 60 and has a hole engaged with theconnecting pin 72. The arm section 70H has a predetermined length asshown in FIGS. 18A and 18B. That is, the length is such that when thecover member 70 is at the uppermost position, the pressing members 66and 68 connected thereto are in a holding state, and when the covermember 70 is at the lowermost position, the pressing members 66 and 68connected thereto are away from the accommodating section for thesemiconductor device to occupy the position in readiness as well as thepressing members 66 and 68 are retreated as a whole into the relief 70R.

Since the pressing members 66 and 68 have the same structure, theexplanation will be made solely on the pressing member 66 and eliminatedon the pressing member 68.

The pressing member 66 includes a proximal end section 66E having a holeinto which the connecting pin is inserted, an touch portion 66Tselectively in contact with the peripheral region of the semiconductordevice 76 or 82, and a connecting section 66C for connecting theproximal end section 66E with the touch portion 66T.

The proximal end section 66E is supported for rotation at the lower endof the arm section 70H via the connecting pin 72. A guide pin 66Pengaged with the inner groove 60 g in a slidable manner is provided inthe connecting section 66C. The guide pin 66P is at a position in thevicinity of an open end of the inner groove 60 g as shown in FIG. 41Awhen the pressing member 66 is in a pressed state, and is at anintermediate position of the inner groove 60 g as shown in FIG. 41B whenthe pressing member 66 is reversely stood at a position in readiness. Atthis time, the connecting section 66C and the touch portion 66T arewaiting in the relief 70R.

Accordingly, when the operative force for pressing the cover member 70downward from a position shown in FIG. 41A to a position shown in FIG.41B is applied, the pressing member 66 rotates about the connecting pin72 and inclines at a predetermined angle in the relief 70R directlybeneath the frame portion of the cover member 70.

On the other hand, when the operative force becomes smaller than thepredetermined value and the cover member 70 is released from the stateshown in FIG. 41B, the cover member 70 returns to the original state dueto the bias of the coil spring 78.

Thus, also in the seventh embodiment of the inventive semiconductordevice socket, it is possible to selectively mount each of thesemiconductor devices 76 and 82 having contour dimensions different fromeach other on the socket body 60 by fixing a proper positioning membersonto the socket body 60 in accordance with the semiconductor devices 76and 82 and carry out the predetermined tests. In this case, sinceconstituent elements in the semiconductor device socket other than thepositioning members are commonly usable and part of the pressing members66 and 68 is bulged outward without being limited by the innerperipheral dimension of the socket body 70, it is possible to facilitatethe rigidity of the pressing members 66 and 68. Also, since a distancebetween centers of the connecting pin 60 g and the guide pin 66P islonger than that shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to further reduce theoperative force for the cover member 70.

FIGS. 42 and 43 illustrate a state in which a plurality of the inventivesemiconductor device sockets in the seventh embodiment described aboveare arranged on the printed wiring board 22. In this regard, in FIGS. 42and 43, the same reference numerals are used for denoting the sameconstituent elements as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 and theexplanation thereof will be eliminated. FIG. 43 shows a state in whichthe cover member is at the lowermost position.

As shown in FIG. 42, the adjacent semiconductor device sockets arearranged in one row at a predetermined pitch so that the pressingmembers 68 and 66 are opposite to each other. At this time, an electricpart 46 such as a capacitor is disposed on the printed wiring board 22in a space between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets.Accordingly, a dead space on the printed wiring board 22 is effectivelyusable.

FIGS. 44A and 44B illustrate an eighth embodiment of the inventivesemiconductor device socket.

A plurality of semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 44A and 44Bare arranged at positions on the printed wiring board 22 incorrespondence to the respective electro-conductive layers. In FIGS. 44Aand 44B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative.

The semiconductor device socket includes a socket body 120 fixed ontothe printed wiring board 22, a plurality of contact terminals 124 ai(i=1 to n, n is a positive integer) arranged on opposite sides around asemiconductor device accommodating section 120 a in a central region ofthe socket body 120, for electrically connecting a semiconductor device136 described later with the printed wiring board 22, a cover member 130held by the socket body 120 to be movable upward and downward, fortransmitting the operative force to an engaged end, positioning sections134 held by the socket body 120 in a detachable manner, foraccommodating the semiconductor element 136 and locating a group ofterminals of the semiconductor element 136 to the contact terminals 124ai.

The semiconductor device accommodating section 120 a in the upperportion of the socket body 120 includes a flat surface on which apackage of the semiconductor element 136 is placed, and the positioningsections 134 engageable with four corners of the mounted package of thesemiconductor element 136. The flat surface is formed generally parallelto the surface of the printed wiring board 22 at the uppermost end ofthe socket body 120. The positioning sections 134 are formed at fourpositions on opposite ends of the flat surface. Thereby, when thepackage of the semiconductor element 136 is placed on the flat surface,the four corners of the package are engaged with the positioningsections 134 to locate the terminal group of the semiconductor element136 to the contact terminals 124 ai. The semiconductor element 136 has,for example, a package of SOP type.

There is a vacant space between the positioning sections 134 opposite toeach other in the direction generally vertical to the paper surface. Asshown in FIGS. 44 and 45, on the respective side of the socket body 120,a plurality of slits 120Si (i=1 to n, n is a positive integer) areformed at a pitch. The respective slits 120Si are separated from eachother by a partitioning wall BW. The number and the pitch of the slits120Si are selected in accordance with those of the terminals of thesemiconductor element 136. On the flat surface of the accommodatingsection 120 a, one end of a bottomed circular bore 120H opens tooutside. Beneath the bottomed bore 120H, a recess 120C is formed.

As shown in FIG. 1, a through-hole 120UK is formed in both walls betweenthe respective slits 120Si and the recess 120C, into which is press-fitone of branches of one contact terminal in two kinds of contactterminals described later. Beneath the through-hole 120UK in the socketbody 120, a recess 120UE is formed, into which is press-fit the otherbranch of the contact terminal.

On the other hand, in both walls between the other slit 120Si adjacentto the one slit 120Si and the recess 120C, a through-hole, in to whichis press-fit a stationary piece of the other contact terminal in the twokinds of the respective contact terminal, is formed opposite to thethrough-hole 120UK. Beneath this through-hole in the socket body 120, arecess 120UE, into which is press-fit the other branch of the contactterminal, is formed opposite to the recess 120UE.

The through-hole 120UK extends generally in the vertical directionrelative to a side surface of the socket body 120. A position of thethrough-hole 120UK relative to the surface of the printed wiring board22 is the same as the relative position of the adjacent through-hole.

A distance between a surface of the recess 120UE opposite to the surfaceof the printed wiring board 22 and the surface of the printed wiringboard 22 is selected to be equal to the corresponding distance in theabove-mentioned adjacent recess 20. A distance from an inner surface ofthe recess 120UK extending in the direction generally vertical to thesurface of the printed wiring board 22 to the outer peripheral surfaceof the socket body 120 is selected to be larger than the correspondingdistance of the adjacent recess described above. Accordingly, thestationary terminal 126S of the contact terminal section 126 aidescribed later is located closer to the outer peripheral surface of thesocket body 120 in comparison with the stationary terminal section 124Sof the contact terminal 124 ai, whereby the respective stationaryterminal sections are arranged in a staggered manner in the directionvertical to the paper surface.

As shown in FIG. 45, a group CG of the contact terminals is formed byalternately arranging the contact terminal 124 ai (i=1 to n, n is apositive integer) with the contact terminal 126 ai (i=1 to n, n is apositive integer).

For example, the contact terminal 124 ai is made of a thin metallicsheet material, as shown in FIG. 44A, to have a stationary terminalsection 124S soldered to the electrode section of the printed wiringboard 22, a stationary section coupled to a proximal end of thestationary terminal section 124S, a curved section 124B coupled to aconnecting section of the stationary section and having a contact 124Cas a movable contact, and a curved section 124D having a stationarycontact section 124F nipping the respective terminal of thesemiconductor element 136 in association with the contact 124C. In thisregard, FIG. 44A shows a state in which the contact 124C is in contactwith the stationary contact section 124F. The contact terminals 124 aiare arranged in symmetry relative to a center axis of the socket body120.

A proximal end of the stationary terminal 124S is formed at one end ofthe one branch 124FA of the stationary section to be integral therewith.The stationary section includes a branch 124FA inserted into a recess120UE of the socket body 120 together with the stationary terminalsection 120, and a connecting section 124I for coupling on end of thebranch 124FA with one end of the branch 124FB.

The curved section 124B is of a generally S-shaped configuration asshown in the right contact terminal 124 ai in FIG. 44A. One end of thecurved section 124B is coupled to the connecting section 124I. At theother end of the curved section 124B, a engagement end section 124K tobe selectively engaged with a cam surface 130CA of the cover memberdescribed later is formed.

A length of the engagement end section 124K is selected such that whenthe cam surface 130CA of the cover member 130 is lowered to apredetermined position as shown in FIG. 44B, a tip end thereof isprojected from the slit of the cover member 130 described later andreaches the outer edge of the cover member 130 contiguous to the camsurface 130CA. The engagement end section 124K is formed such that whenthe cover member 130 is at the uppermost position, the extension of atip end thereof intersects the cam surface CA.

In a portion of the curved section 124B closer to the connecting section124I than the engagement end section 124K, the contact 124C is formedwhile being projected to the flat surface of the socket body 120 and thestationary contact section 124F.

One end of the curved section 124D having the stationary contact section124F is coupled to be adjacent to one end of the curved section 124B inthe slit 120Si. The elongate curved section 124D is arranged at aposition in the slit 120Si inner than the curved section 124B. A contactsurface of the stationary contact section 124F in contact with thecontact 124C is located on the side surface of the socket body 120 sothat it is generally in the same plane as the flat surface.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 44B, when the cam surface 130CA of thecover member 130 described later is lowered, the engagement end section124K of the curved section 124B is away from the accommodating section120 a and the stationary contact section 124F by the cam surface 130CA,and the contact 124C is away from the flat surface of the socket body120 to a position in readiness. On the other hand, when the cam surface130CA is elevated, as shown in FIG. 44A, the engagement end section 124Kof the curved section 124B approaches the accommodating section 120 awhile sliding on the cam surface 130CA and the contact 124C is closer tothe flat surface of the socket body 120 and the stationary contactsection 124F.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 44A, when the engagement end section 124Kof the curved section 124B is disengaged from the cam surface 130CA ofthe cover member 130, the contact 124C is in contact with the flatsurface of the socket body 120 or the terminal of the semiconductorelement 136.

On the other hand, the contact terminal 126 ai is made, for example, ofa thin metallic sheet material to have a stationary terminal section126S soldered to the electrode section of the printed wiring board 22, astationary section coupled to a proximal end of the stationary terminalsection 126S, and a curved section contiguous to the connecting portionof the stationary section and having a contact section as a movablecontact.

Since the contact terminal 126 ai has the same structure as that of theabove-mentioned contact terminal 124 ai except for the stationaryterminal section 126S, the explanation of the common elements will beeliminated.

The proximal end of the stationary terminal section 126S is formed at anend of the one branch of the stationary section integral therewith. Atthis time, an axial length of the stationary terminal section 126S isequal to an axial length of the stationary terminal section 126S of thecontact terminal 124 ai. In this regard, a position of a proximal end ofthe stationary terminal section 126S is closer to a side surface of thesocket body 120 in comparison with a position of a proximal end of thestationary terminal section 124S of the contact terminal 124 ai.

Accordingly, also in the contact terminal 125 ai, the same motion as theabove-described motion of the contact terminal 124 ai is carried out inaccordance with the upward/downward motion of the cover member 130.

The frame-like cover member 130 has in a central region thereof anopening 130 a. The opening 130 a allows the semiconductor element 136 topass through the same when the semiconductor element 136 is mounted toor removed from the accommodating section 120 a. On the respectiveshorter side of the cover member 130, a pair of claws engageable with agroove (not shown) of the socket body 120 in a movable manner areprojected toward the outer circumference of the socket body 120. Thecover member 130 is biased in the direction away from the socket body120 by coil springs provided between the cover member 130 and the socketbody 120. In this regard, the cover member 130 is maintained at theuppermost position by the engagement of an end of the claw not shownwith an end of the groove.

On the respective side of the cover member 130, a plurality of slits130Si (i=1 to n, n is a positive integer) are formed at a predeterminedpitch in correspondence to the engagement end sections of the curvedsections of the contact terminals 124 ai and the 126 ai as shown in FIG.45. At a lower end of the frame-like portion of the cover member 130 inwhich the slits 130Si are formed, a cam surface 130CA is formed along alonger side thereof.

When the semiconductor element 136 is subjected to a test under such astructure, a tip end of an arm of a work robot not shown is firstbrought into contact with the upper surface of the cover member 130 topush the cover member downward against the elastic force of the coilsprings, the curved sections of the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai.Thereby, the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai disposed opposite toeach other are away from the other to an open state. Also, thesemiconductor element 136 to be tested may be conveyed to a positiondirectly above the opening 130 a of the cover member 130 while beingsucked and held by a conveyor arm of a conveyor robot not shown.

At this time, the operative force for descending the cover member 130must be larger than a resultant force of individual pressures applied tocontact points (points of application) at which tip ends of theengagement end sections are in contact with the cam surface 130CA of thecover member 130 when the tip end of the engagement end section in thecontact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai is made to rotated in the clockwisedirection as shown in FIG. 46. Since the pressure applied to the contactpoint (point of application) is the multiplication of a spring constantof the curved section of the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai withthe displacement of the rotary angle, it is inversely proportional to adistance LA from the contact point Cp to the rotary center Co of theengagement end section in the curved section.

Accordingly, when the tip end of the engagement end section extends viathe slit 130Si to the upper end of the cam surface 130CA of the covermember 130 to be projected outside, the distance LA is larger than adistance LB in a contact terminal 140 a of the prior art apparatus shownin FIG. 47 corresponding thereto, and the operative force for descendingthe cover member 130 becomes smaller. In FIG. 47, a cam surface 150CA isformed at a lower end of a frame portion of a cover member along alonger side thereof. The contact terminals 140 a thereof are arrangedopposite to each other to be in a line symmetry relative to a centeraxis of the socket body 120.

Then, the semiconductor element 136 sucked and held by the conveyor armis lowered through the opening 130 a and positioned in the accommodatingsection 120 a. Subsequently, the cover member 130 is elevated from theopening position to the uppermost position due to the bias of the coilsprings when the tip end of the robot moves upward while being incontact with the upper surface of the cover member 130.

At this time, the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai are made to rotategenerally at the same timing to nip the terminals of the semiconductorelement 136 by the contacts 124C and the stationary contacts 124F.

When the inspection signal is input to the input/output section of theprinted wiring board 22 while maintaining the cover member 130 at theuppermost position, this inspection signal is transmitted to thesemiconductor element 136 via the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai.If the abnormality is detected in a circuit of the semiconductorelement, the abnormality-detecting signal is issued from thesemiconductor element 136 and fed to an external device for diagnosingfaults via the input/output section.

When the test of the semiconductor element 136 has been finished, thetip end of the robot for removing the semiconductor element 136 andmounting a fresh semiconductor element 136 is in contact with the uppersurface of the cover member 130 to push the same downward against thebias of the coil springs. The semiconductor element 136 thus tested istaken out by the conveyor arm, while the fresh semiconductor element 136to be tested is mounted in the same manner as described above.

FIGS. 48 and 49 illustrate a state in which a plurality of theabove-mentioned inventive semiconductor device sockets of the eighthembodiment are arranged on the printed wiring board 22. In this regard,in FIGS. 48 and 49, the same constituent elements as those in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B are denoted by the same referencenumerals and the explanation thereof will be eliminated. FIG. 48 shows astate in which the cover member 130 is at the lowermost position.

The adjacent semiconductor device sockets are arranged in one row at apredetermined pitch so that the engagement end sections in the curvedsections of the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai of the respectivesemiconductor device sockets are close to each other via a gap. At thistime, an electric part 146 such as a capacitor is disposed on theprinted wiring board 22 in a space between the adjacent semiconductordevice sockets. Accordingly, a dead space on the printed wiring board 22is effectively usable.

FIGS. 50 and 51 show a ninth embodiment of the inventive semiconductordevice socket. In this regard, in FIGS. 50 and 51, the same referencenumerals are used for denoting the same constituent elements and theexplanation thereof will be eliminated.

While the contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai are arranged in a linesymmetry while interposing the accommodating section 120 a in theembodiment shown in FIGS. 44A and 44B, a group containing theabove-mentioned contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai is disposed on theright side of the accommodating section 120 a and a group containingcontact terminals 144 ai and 146 ai having shapes different from thecontact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai is disposed on the left side of theaccommodating section 120 a in the embodiment shown in FIGS. 50 and 51.

In FIGS. 50 and 51, a plurality of semiconductor device sockets arearranged parallel to each other at positions on the printed wiring board22 corresponding to the respective electro-conductive layers between endsurfaces on the longer side at a predetermined gap CL in theX-coordinate direction shown in FIG. 50 to be closer than the embodimentshown in FIG. 39. FIG. 51 shows a state in which the cover member 130 isat the lowermost position. Also, the adjacent semiconductor devicesockets are deviated from each other by a predetermined dimension SH inthe Y-coordinate direction vertical to the X-coordinate direction sothat a position of the contact terminal 124 ai in one semiconductordevice socket is between the contact terminals 144 ai and 146 ai in theadjacent other semiconductor device socket. As a result, since adistance between a row of one semiconductor device sockets and the othersemiconductor device sockets adjacent to the former becomes shorter, adead space is minimized to realize the high-density mounting of thesemiconductor device sockets.

As shown in FIG. 50, the contact terminal 144 ai is arranged inalternate with the contact terminal 146 ai (i=1 to n, n is a positiveinteger).

The contact terminal 144 ai is made, for example, of a thin metallicsheet material to have a stationary terminal section 144S soldered tothe electrode section of the printed wiring board 22, a stationarysection coupled to the stationary terminal section 144S, a curvedsection 144B contiguous to the stationary section and having a contact144C as a movable contact, and a curved section 144D having a stationarycontact section 144F for nipping the respective contact of theabove-mentioned semiconductor element 136 in association with thecontact 144C. In this regard, FIG. 51 shows a state in which the contact144C and the stationary contact section 144F are away from each other.The contact terminal 144 ai is arranged to be in a line symmetry withthe contact terminal 124 ai relative to a center axis of the socket body120.

A proximal end of the stationary terminal section 144S is formed at oneend of one branch 144FA of the stationary section to be integraltherewith. The stationary section includes a branch 144FA to be insertedtogether with the stationary terminal section 144S into a recess 120UEof the socket body 120, a branch 144FB to be press-fit into athrough-hole 120UK of the socket body 120, and a connecting section 144Icoupling one end of the branch 144FA to one end of the other branch144FB.

The curved section 144B is of a generally S-shape as shown in FIG. 51 inthe leftside contact terminal 144 ai. One end of the curved section 144Bis coupled to the connecting section 144I. An engagement end section144K selectively engageable with a cam surface 130′CB of a cover member130 described later is formed at the other end of the curved section144B.

As shown in FIG. 51, a length of the engagement end section 144K isdetermined such that when the cam surface 130′CB of the cover member130′ is lowered to a predetermined position, a tip end thereof isprojected outside from a slit of the cover member 130′ described laterand reaches the outer edge of the cover member 130′ contiguous to thecam surface 130′CB. Also, a shape of the engagement end section 144K isdifferent from a shape of the engagement end section 124K of the contactterminal 124 ai so that an angle at which a proximal end thereofintersects the other end of the curved section 144B is larger than thecorresponding angle in the engagement end section 124K. Accordingly, asshown in FIG. 52, when the cover member 130′ is lowered to apredetermined position, a position of a tip end of the engagement endsection 144K is lower in a gap CL than that of a tip end of theengagement end section 144K in the adjacent semiconductor device socketso as not to interfere with each other.

In a portion of the curved section 144B closer to the connecting section144I than the engagement end section 144K, a contact 144C projectedtoward the flat surface of the socket body 120 and the stationarycontact section 144F are formed.

One end of the curved section 144D having the stationary contact section144F is adjacent to one end of the curved section 144B in the connectingsection 144I and connected thereto. The elongate curved section 144D isdisposed in the slit 120S at a position inner than the curved section144B. A contact surface of the stationary contact section 144F withwhich is in contact the contact 144C is arranged on the side surface ofthe socket body 120 so that it is generally in the same plane as theflat surface.

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 51, when the cam surface 130′CB of the covermember 130′ described later is lowered, the engagement end section 144Kof the curved section 144B is separated from the accommodating section120 a and the stationary contact section 144F, while the contact 144C isseparated from the flat surface of the socket body 120 to a position inreadiness. On the other hand, when the cam surface 130′CB of the covermember 130′ is elevated, the engagement end section 144K of the curvedsection 144B approaches the accommodating section 120 a while slidingalong the cam surface 130′CB, and the contact 144C approaches theflat-surface of the socket body 120 and the stationary contact section144F.

Accordingly, when the engagement end section 144K of the curved section144B is not engaged with the cam surface 130′CB of the cover member130′, the contact 144C is in contact with the flat surface of the socketbody 120 or the terminal of the semiconductor element 136.

On the other hand, the contact terminal 146 ai is made of a thinmetallic sheet material to have a stationary terminal section 146Ssoldered to the electrode section of the printed wiring board 22, astationary section coupled to a proximal end of the stationary terminalsection 146S, and a curved section coupled to a connecting portion ofthe stationary section and having a contact as a movable contact.

Since the contact terminal 146 ai has the same constituent elements asthe above-mentioned contact terminal 144 ai except for the stationaryterminal section 146S, the explanation of the common constituentelements will be eliminated.

A proximal end of the stationary terminal section 146S is formed at anend of one branch of the stationary section to be integral therewith. Atthis time, an axial length of the stationary terminal section 146S isequal to an axial length of the stationary terminal section 44S of thecontact terminal 144 ai. In this regard, a position of the proximal endof the stationary terminal section 146S in the stationary section iscloser to a side surface of the socket body 120 in comparison with aposition of the proximal end of the stationary terminal section 144S ofthe contact terminal 144 ai.

Accordingly, also in the contact terminal 146 ai, the same operation asthat of the contact terminal 144 ai described above is carried out inaccordance with the upward and downward motion of the cover member 130′.

The frame-like cover member 130′ has an opening 130′a in a centralregion thereof. The opening 130′a allows the semiconductor element 136to pass through the same during the attachment/detachment of thesemiconductor element 136 relative to the accommodating section 120 a.On the respective shorter side of the cover member 130′, a pair of clawsengageable with a groove (not shown) in the socket body 120 in a movablemanner are projected toward the outer circumference of the socket body120. The cover member 130′ is biased in the direction away from thesocket body 120 by coil springs provided between the cover member 130′and the socket body 120. In this regard, the cover member 130′ ismaintained at the uppermost position by the engagement of ends of theclaws not shown with an end of the groove.

On each of opposite sides of the cover member 130′, a plurality of slits(not shown) are formed at a predetermined pitch in correspondence withthe engagement end sections of the curved sections of the contactterminals 144 ai and 146 ai. At a lower end of the frame portion of thecover member 130′ in which the slits are formed, a cam surface 130′CB isformed opposite to the cam surface 130′CA along a longer side.

In this structure, when the test of the semiconductor element 136 iscarried out, a tip end of an arm of a work robot not shown is in contactwith the upper surface of the cover member 130′ to move the cover member130′ upward and downward so that the semiconductor element 136 ismounted to and detached from the accommodating section 120 a.

In the embodiment shown in the above-described FIG. 50, the adjacentsemiconductor device sockets are deviated from each other by apredetermined dimension SH in the Y-coordinate direction vertical to theX-coordinate direction so that a position of the contact terminal 124 aiin one semiconductor device socket is between the contact terminals 144ai and 146 ai in the adjacent other semiconductor device socket.

However, this is not indispensable, but as shown in FIG. 52, one contactterminal group CG containing contact terminals 144 ai and 146 ai in onesemiconductor device socket in one row arranged in the Y coordinatedirection is disposed in a staggered manner between two contact terminalgroups CG containing contact terminals 124 ai and 126 ai in twosemiconductor device sockets in the other row arranged adjacent to theone row in parallel thereto.

FIGS. 53A and 53B illustrate a tenth embodiment of the inventivesemiconductor device socket.

A plurality of the semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 53A and53B are arranged on the printed wiring board 22 at positionscorresponding to the respective electro-conductive layers. In FIGS. 53Aand 53B, only one semiconductor device socket is shown as arepresentative.

The semiconductor device socket includes a socket body 160 to be fixedonto the printed wiring board 22, a contact terminal group CG consistingof a plurality of contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai (i=1 to n, n is apositive integer) arranged opposite four sides around a semiconductordevice accommodating section 160 a in a central region of the socketbody 160, for electrically connecting a semiconductor element SDVdescribed later to the printed wiring board 22, a cover member 162 heldby the socket body 160 to be movable upward and downward, fortransmitting an operative force to a lever mechanism described later, apositioning section 170 held by the socket body 160 in a detachablemanner, for accommodating the semiconductor element SDV and locating theterminal group of the semiconductor element SDV to the contact terminals166 ai and 168 ai.

On the outer circumference of the respective side in the socket body160, as shown in FIG. 24, two elongate grooves 160G are formed parallelto each other and generally vertical to the surface of the printedwiring board 22. A claw of the cover member 162 described later isengaged with the respective groove 160G in a slidable manner.

In a central region of the socket body 160, the positioning section 170is formed, having an accommodating section 170A for accommodating thesemiconductor element SDV to be tested.

As shown in FIGS. 53A and 54, in the respective side wall of the socketbody 160 encircling the positioning section 170, slits 160Si (i=1 to n,n is a positive integer) are formed at a predetermined pitch. Therespective slits 160Si adjacent to each other are separated from eachother by a partitioning wall BW. The respective slits 160Si are formedin correspondence to terminals of the semiconductor element SDV mountedto the accommodating section 170A in the positioning section 170. Thenumber and the pitch of the slits 160Si are determined in accordancewith those of the terminals of the semiconductor element SDV.Accordingly, the terminals of the semiconductor element SDV arepositioned to the contact sections of the contact terminals describedlater.

The semiconductor element SDV has, for example, a package of QFP type.

In a contact terminal fixing section in the respective slit 150Si, thecontact terminal 166 ai and 168 ai forming the contact terminal group CGare alternately arranged.

The contact terminal groups CG are provided at four positions incorrespondence to the respective sides of the positioning section 170while encircling the positioning section 170.

The contact terminal 166 ai is made, for example, of a thin metallicsheet material to have, as shown in FIG. 53A, a stationary terminalsection 166S to be soldered to the electrode section of the printedwiring board 22, a stationary section coupled to an proximal end of thestationary terminal section 166S, and a curved section 166B contiguousto the stationary section and provided at a tip end thereof with acontact 166C as a movable contact.

A proximal end of the stationary terminal section 166S is formed at aposition farther from the outer surface of the socket body 160 than aportion of the stationary section to which the curved section 166B isconnected. A proximal end of the stationary terminal section 166S ispress-fit into a hole provided in the contact terminal section. Thishole is formed so that the center axis thereof is vertical to thesurface of the printed wiring board 22.

As shown in FIG. 53A, the curved section 166B extends in the verticaldirection from the proximal end connected to the stationary section, andthen bends generally in a U-shape toward the contact terminal fixingsection to the vicinity the positioning section 170.

The contact terminal 168 ai is made, for example, of a thin metallicsheet material to have, as shown in FIG. 53A, the same structure as inthe contact terminal 166 ai, except for a position of the stationaryterminal section 168S. A position of a proximal portion of thestationary terminal section 168S is father from the outer surface of thesocket body 160 in comparison with a position of the proximal portion ofthe stationary terminal section 166S in the contact terminal 166 ai.

The lever mechanism includes a lever member 164 held for rotation byeach of four bearings 160BE provided at four position around thepositioning section 170.

The lever member 164 includes a proximal portion 164B engaged forrotation with a generally arcuate bearing surface in the bearing 160BE,an engagement end section 164K, one end of which is formed integral withthe proximal portion and in contact with the cam surface of the covermember 162 as well as rotating thereby, and an arm 164A engaged with abending portion of the curved section of the contact terminal 166 ai and168 ai.

The proximal portion 164B has an arcuate lower end supported by agenerally arcuate bearing surface in the bearing 160BE. Also, theproximal portion 164B has an opening 166 e between the engagement endsection 164K and the arm section 164A, into which a bending portion ofthe curved section in contact terminal 166 ai and 168 ai is inserted.

The arm section 164A extends generally in the vertical direction to thepaper surface while maintaining the same width as that of the engagementend section 164K. The engagement end section 164K is formed to intersectthe proximal portion 164B at a predetermined angle. Also, a tip end ofthe engagement end section 164K is inclined upward so that an extendingline thereof intersects the cover member 162. A projected length of theengagement end section 164K from the proximal portion 164B is selected,as shown in FIG. 53B, so that when the cover member 162 is lowered to apredetermined position, a tip end of the engagement end section 164K isprojected from the outer circumference of the cover member 162 and thesocket body 160 at a predetermined dimension.

Thereby, as shown in FIG. 53B, when the cam surface 162CA of the covermember 162 described later is lowered, the engagement end section 164Kof the lever member 164 is made to rotate to move away from theaccommodating section 170A by the cam surface 162CA. The contact portion166C is gone away from the outer edge of the accommodating section 170Ato move to a position in readiness. On the other hand, when the camsurface 162CA of the cover member 162 is elevated, as shown in FIG. 53A,the engagement end section 164K of the lever member 164 approaches theaccommodating section 170A while sliding along the cam surface 162CA,and the contact 166C approaches the periphery of the accommodatingsection 170A.

Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 53A, when the engagement end section 166Kof the lever member 166 is disengaged from the cam surface 162CA of thecover member 162, the contact 166C is in contact with the periphery ofthe accommodating section 170A or the terminal of the semiconductorelement 136.

Also in the engagement end section of the contact terminal 168ai, thesame operation as in the above-mentioned contact terminal 166 ai iscarried out in accordance with the upward and downward motion of thecover member 162.

The frame-like cover member 162 has an opening 162 a in a central regionthereof. The opening 162 a allows the semiconductor element SDV to passthrough the same when the semiconductor element is mounted to or removedfrom the accommodating section 170A. On the respective side of the covermember 162, a pair of claws 162N engageable with a groove 160G of thesocket body 160 in a movable manner are-projected toward the outercircumference of the socket body 160, as shown in FIG. 54. The covermember 162 is biased in the direction away from the socket body 160 bycoil springs provided between the cover member 162 and the socket body160. In this regard, the cover member 162 is maintained at the uppermostposition by the engagement of an end of the claw 162N with an end of thegroove 160G.

As shown in FIG. 54, on the respective side of the cover member 162, acut 162E is formed in correspondence to the engagement end section 164Kof the lever member 162. At a lower end of the frame portion of thecover member 162 forming the respective cuts 162E, the cam surface 162CAis formed. On the periphery of the opening 162 a, four reliefscontiguous to the cam surface 162CA are formed. As shown in FIG. 53B, inthe respective relief, part of the lever member 164 and a tip endportion of the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai are present when thecover member 162 is lowered to the predetermined position.

When the test of the semiconductor element SDV is carried out under sucha condition, a tip end of an arm of a work robot not shown is initiallyin contact with the upper surface of the cover member 162 to push thelatter downward against the bias of the coil springs SP described aboveand the curved sections of the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai.Thus, the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai disposed around theaccommodating section 170A are away from the lever member 164 to be anopen state. Then, the semiconductor element SDV to be tested is suckedand held by a conveyor arm of a conveyor robot not shown, andtransported to a position directly above the opening 162 a of the covermember 162.

At this time, part of the engagement end section 164K of the levermember 164 is projected outward from a state retreated inside shown inFIG. 53A. The operative force to lower the cover member 162 must belarger than a resultant force of pressures applied to contact points(points of application) at which tip ends of the engagement end sections164K of the lever members 164 are brought into contact with the camsurface 162CA of the cover member 162 when the contact 166C of thecontact terminal 166 ai and a tip end of the lever member 164 are madeto rotate in the clockwise direction. Since the pressure applied to thecontact point (point of application) is the multiplication of a springconstant of the curved section of the contact terminals 166 ai and 168ai with the displacement of the rotary angle, it is inverselyproportional to a distance LA from the contact point Cp to the rotarycenter Co of the proximal portion 164B of the lever member 164.Accordingly, by extending the length of the engagement end section 164Kof the lever member 164 until the tip end thereof is projected outsidevia the cut 162E, the distance LA becomes longer than the correspondingdistance LB of the lever member 180 in the conventional apparatus asshown in FIG. 66, whereby the operative force for descending the covermember 162 is reduced in comparison with the conventional apparatus. Thelever member 180 includes a proximal portion 180B engaged in a rotatablemanner with a generally arcuate bearing surface in the bearing section160BE, an engagement end section 180K formed integral with the proximalportion at one end and brought into contact in a rotatable manner withthe cam surface of the cover member 162, and an arm section 180A engagedwith the curved sections 166B of the contact terminals 166 ai and 168ai.

Next, the semiconductor element SDV sucked and held by the conveyor armis lowered through the opening 162 a of the cover member 162, andpositioned and mounted to the accommodating section 170A. Subsequently,the cover member 162 is elevated while the tip end of an arm of the workrobot is in contact with the upper surface of the cover member 162, andreaches to the uppermost position from the opened position due to thebias of the coil springs SP and the recovery force of the contactterminals 180 ai and 182 ai.

At this time, the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai are made to rotategenerally at the same timing to press the terminals of the semiconductorelement SDV by the contacts 166C.

When an inspection signal is input into the input/output section of theprinted wiring board 22 while maintaining the cover member 162 at theuppermost position, the inspection signal is fed to the semiconductorelement SDV via the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai. When theabnormality is detected in a circuit thereof, an abnormality-detectingsignal issued from the semiconductor element SDV is fed to an externaldevice for diagnosing faults via the input/output section.

When the test of the semiconductor element SDV has finished, the tip endof the arm of the work robot is brought into contact with the uppersurface of the cover member 162 in the same manner as described beforeand pushes the cover member downward against the bias of the coilsprings SP for the purpose of removing the semiconductor element SDV andmounting a fresh semiconductor element SDV. The tested semiconductorelement SDV is taken out by the conveyor arm and the fresh semiconductorelement SDV to be tested is mounted as described above.

FIGS. 56 and 57 shows a state in which a plurality of the inventivesemiconductor device sockets of the tenth embodiment described above arearranged on the printed wiring board 22. In this regard, in FIGS. 56 and57, the same constituent elements as in FIGS. 53A and 53B are denoted bythe same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will beeliminated. FIG. 56 shows a state in which the cover member 162 is atthe lowermost position.

The adjacent semiconductor device sockets are arranged in one row at apredetermined gap as shown in FIGS. 56 and 57 so that the engagement endsections 164K of the lever members 164 in the respective semiconductordevice sockets are close to each other via the gap. At this time, anelectric part 146 such as a capacitor is disposed on the printed wiringboard 22 in a space between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets.Accordingly, a dead space on the printed wiring board 22 is effectivelyusable.

In this regard, as shown in FIG. 58, when three semiconductor devicesockets or more are arranged, the engagement end section 164K of thelever member 164 in one semiconductor device socket in one row isdisposed between the adjacent semiconductor device sockets in the otherrow adjacent to the one row. That is, for example, in FIG. 58, a centerline of the semiconductor device socket in the other row is located at aposition apart leftward therefrom by half a distance between centers ofthe adjacent semiconductor device sockets.

FIG. 59 illustrates an eleventh embodiment of the inventivesemiconductor device socket. In this regard, in FIG. 59, the sameconstituent elements as in FIGS. 53A and 53B are denoted by the samereference numerals and the explanation thereof will be eliminated. FIG.59 shows a state in which the cover member 180 is at the lowermostposition.

A plurality of semiconductor device sockets are disposed in apredetermined direction on the printed wiring board 22 at positionscorresponding to the respective electro-conductive layers thereof at apredetermined gap CL smaller than in the case shown in FIG. 56. As aresult, since the mutual distance between one row of the semiconductordevice sockets and the other row adjacent to the former becomes shorter,a dead space is reduced to realize the high-density mounting of thesemiconductor device sockets.

The frame-like cover member 180 has an opening 180 a in a central regionthereof. The opening 180 a allows the semiconductor element SDV to passthrough the same during the attachment/detachment of the semiconductorelement SDV relative to the accommodating section 170A. On therespective side of the cover member 180, a pair of claws engageable witha groove 160G of the socket body 160 in a movable manner are projectedtoward the outer circumference of the socket body 160. The cover member180 is biased to be away from the socket body 160 by coil springsprovided between the cover member 180 and the socket body 160. In thisregard, the uppermost position of the cover member 180 is maintained bythe engagement of the claws with the groove 160G.

On the respective side of the cover member 180, a predetermined cut isprovided in correspondence to the engagement end section 164K of thelever member 164 as shown in FIG. 59. On the inner periphery of a lowerend of the frame portion of the cover member 180 forming the cuts, camsurfaces 180CA and 180CB are formed.

In FIG. 59, the cam surface 180CA in the semiconductor device socketlocated at a center is formed, for example, on the right side farther inthe direction vertical to the paper surface (not shown). On the otherhand, the cam surface 180CB is formed on the left side closer in thedirection vertical to the paper surface (not shown).

The cam surface 180CA has a slant lowering rightward at a predeterminedinclination while widening in the widthwise direction of the respectiveside of the cover member 180. The cam surface 180CB has a slant loweringleftward at a predetermined inclination while widening in the widthwisedirection of the respective side of the cover member 180. Theinclination of the cam surface 180CB is smaller than that of the camsurface CA. A height of a portion of the cam surface CA intersecting theouter circumference of the cover member 180 from the surface of theprinted wiring board 22 is lower than a height of a portion of the camsurface CB intersecting the outer circumference of the cover member 180.

On the periphery of the opening 180 a, four reliefs contiguous to thecam surfaces 180CA and 180CB are formed. In the respective relief, asshown in FIG. 55, part of the lever member 154 and tip ends of thecontact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai are disposed when the cover member180 is lowered to a predetermined position.

Accordingly, when the cover member 180 is at the lowermost position, asshown in FIG. 59, there is no risk in that parts of the engagement endsections 164K of the lever members 164 projected Outward in the adjacentsemiconductor device sockets interfere with each other.

While the lever members 164 are provided so that the engagement endsections 164K of the lever members 164 in the adjacent semiconductordevice sockets are directly opposite to each other in the embodimentshown in FIG. 58, this is not indispensable, but a widthwise center lineof the lever member 164 may not coincide with the center axis of thesocket body 160.

That is, when a plurality of semiconductor device sockets are arrangedin the X-coordinate direction shown in FIG. 60A, the engagement endsection 164′K of the lever member 164′ located on a right side in theX-coordinate direction in one semiconductor device socket Si may bedeviated to one side in the Y-coordinate direction relative to a centeraxis of the socket body 160, and the engagement end section 164′K of thelever member 164′ located on a left side opposite to the former may bedeviated to the other side in the Y-coordinate direction relative to acenter axis of the socket body 160. Also, the engagement end section164′K of one lever member 164′ in the Y-coordinate direction in onesemiconductor device socket Si may be deviated to a right side in theX-coordinate direction relative to a center axis of the socket body 160,and the engagement end section 164′K of the lever member 164′ locatedopposite thereto may be deviated to the left side in the X-coordinatedirection relative to a center axis of the socket body 160. At thistime, as shown in FIG. 60B, heights of the opposite engagement endsections 164′K from the bottom of the socket body 160 are determined tobe equal to each other. In this regard, FIG. 60B shows a state in whichthe cover member 162 is at the lowermost position.

Accordingly, since a gap CL between the socket bodies 160 in theadjacent semiconductor device sockets becomes smaller than thecorresponding gap in the embodiment shown in FIG. 56, a dead space isfurther reduced.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 61A and 61B, a length of the engagementend section 165K of the lever member 165 is longer in each of aplurality of adjacent semiconductor device sockets S1 and S2 than thatof the engagement end section 164′K of the lever member 164′ in theabove-mentioned embodiment. The cover member 162′ has a recess Re inwhich a tip end of the engagement end section 165K in the opposite covermember is inserted when the cover member 164′ is at the lowermostposition. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 61A and 61B, otherconstituent elements are the same as those in the embodiment shown inFIGS. 60A and 60B.

In FIG. 61A, the engagement end section 165K of the lever member 165located on a right side in the X-coordinate direction in onesemiconductor device socket Si may be deviated to one side in theY-coordinate direction relative to a center axis of the socket body 160,and the engagement end section 165K of the lever member 165 located on aleft side opposite to the former is deviated to the other side in theY-coordinate direction relative to a center axis of the socket body 160.Also, the engagement end section 165K of one lever member 164 in theY-coordinate direction in one semiconductor device socket Si is deviatedto a right side in the X-coordinate direction relative to a center axisof the socket body 160, and the engagement end section 165 of the levermember 165 located opposite thereto may be deviated to the left side inthe X-coordinate direction relative to a center axis of the socket body160. At this time, the respective engagement end section 165K isbifurcated to have a cut 165 n. In this regard, FIG. 61A shows a statein which the engagement end section 165K is projected outward when thecover member 162′ is at the lowermost position.

The adjacent semiconductor device socket S2 has the same structure as inthe semiconductor device socket S1, the engagement end sections 165Kopposite to each other is disposed close to each other so that when thecover member 162′ is at the lowermost position, one branch of the matingengagement end section 165K is inserted into the cut 165 n. At thistime, as shown in FIG. 61B, heights of the opposite engagement endsections 164K from the bottom of the socket body 160 are determined tobe equal to each other. In this regard, FIG. 61B shows a state in whichthe cover member 162′ is at the lowermost position.

Accordingly, even if a length of the engagement end section 165K isselected to be longer than a length of the engagement end section 164′Kof the lever member 164′ in the embodiment shown in FIG. 56, a gap CL′between the socket bodies 160 in the adjacent semiconductor devicesockets 160 is smaller than the corresponding gap in the embodimentshown in FIG. 56.

FIGS. 62A and 62B show a twelfth embodiment of the inventivesemiconductor device socket.

A plurality of semiconductor device sockets shown in FIGS. 62A and 62Bare arranged on the printed wiring board 22 at positions correspondingto the respective electro-conductive layers. In FIGS. 62A and 62B, onlyone semiconductor device socket is shown.

The semiconductor device socket includes a socket body 184 fixed onto aprinted wiring board 22, a contact terminal group CG arranged onopposite four sides of a semiconductor accommodating section 186Aprovided in a central portion of the socket body 184 and consisting of aplurality of contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai (i=1 to n, n is apositive integer) for electrically connecting a semiconductor elementSDV to the printed wiring board 22, a cover member 182 held by thesocket body 184 to be movable upward and downward for transmitting theoperative force to a lever mechanism described later, and a positioningsection 186 held by the socket body 184 in a detachable manner, foraccommodating the semiconductor element SDV to be tested and locating aterminal group of the semiconductor element SDV relative to the contactterminals 166 ai and 168 ai. In this regard, in FIGS. 62A and 62B, thesame constituent elements as in FIGS. 53A and 53B are denoted by thesame reference numerals and the explanation thereof will be eliminated.

On the outer circumference of the respective side of the socket body184, two elongate grooves 184G are formed parallel to each other andgenerally vertical to the surface of the printed wiring board 22. To therespective groove 184G, claws 182N of the cover member 182 describedlater is engaged in a slidable manner, as shown in FIG. 63.

As shown in FIG. 62A, in a central region of the socket body 184, thepositioning section 186 having the accommodating section 186A foraccommodating the semiconductor element SDV to be tested is disposed.

As shown in FIGS. 62A and 62B, in the respective side wall of the socketbody 160 encircling the positioning section 186, slits 184Si (i=1 to n,n is a positive integer) for allowing contact terminals described laterare formed at a predetermined pitch. The adjacent slits 184Si areseparated by a partitioning wall BW. In the partitioning wall BW, awidening section 184 e obliquely bulged upward from a lower portionthereof is formed.

The respective slit 184S is formed in correspondence to a terminal ofthe semiconductor element SDV mounted to the accommodating section 186Aof the positioning section 186. The number and the pitch of the slits184Si are determined in accordance with those of the terminals of thesemiconductor element SDV. Accordingly, the terminals of thesemiconductor element SDV are positioned to the contacts of the contactterminals.

The semiconductor element SDV has a package, for example, of QFP type.

A length of the respective side of the frame-like cover member 182 isselected to be generally equal to the outer dimension of the socket body160. The cover member 182 has an opening 182 a in a central regionthereof. The opening 182 a allows the semiconductor element SDV to passthrough the same during the attachment/detachment of the semiconductorelement SDV relative to the accommodating section 186A. On therespective side of the cover member 182, as shown in FIG. 59, a pair ofclaws 182N engageable with the groove 184G of the socket body 184 areprojected toward the outer circumference of the socket body 184. Thecover member 182 is biased by coil springs SP provided between the covermember 182 and the socket body 184 to be away from the socket body 184.In this regard, the cover member 182 is maintained at the uppermostposition by the engagement of an end of the claw 182N with an end of thegroove 184G.

On the respective side of the cover member 182, a cut 182E and aprojection 182P are formed in correspondence to the engagement endsection 164K of the lever member 164. A length of the side of the covermember 182 including the projection 182P is determined such that whenthe cover member 182 is at the lowermost position, as shown in FIG. 62B,a tip end of the engagement end section 164K is not projected outside.At a lower end of the frame portion of the cover member 182E having thecuts 182E, a cam surface 182CA is formed. On the periphery of theopening 182 a, four reliefs contiguous to the cam surface 182CA areformed. As shown in FIG. 62B, part of the lever member 164 and tip endsof the contact terminals 166 ai and 168 ai are present when the covermember 182 is lowered to a predetermined position.

FIGS. 64 and 65 show a state in which a plurality of the inventivesemiconductor device sockets according to the tenth embodiment arearranged on the printed wiring board 22. In this regard, in FIGS. 64 and65, the same constituent elements as in FIGS. 62A and 62B are denoted bythe same reference numerals and the explanation thereof will beeliminated. FIG. 64 shows a state in which the cover member 182 is atthe lowermost position.

As shown in FIGS. 64 and 65, the adjacent semiconductor device socketsare arranged in one row so that the engagement end sections 164K of thelever members 164 in the respective semiconductor device sockets areclose to each other via a gap. At this time, in a space encircled by thewidening sections 184 e in the adjacent semiconductor device sockets, anelectric part 146 such as a capacitor is disposed on the printed wiringboard 22. Accordingly, a dead space on the printed wiring board 22 iseffectively usable.

The present invention has been described in detail with respect topreferred embodiments, and it will now be apparent from the foregoing tothose skilled in the art that changes and modifications may be madewithout departing from the invention in its broader aspects, and it isthe intention, therefore, in the appended claims to cover all suchchanges and modifications as fall within the true spirit of theinvention.

1. A socket for a semiconductor device, comprising: a socket body havinga semiconductor device placement section for selectively accommodatingone of a plurality of semiconductor devices having contour dimensionsdifferent from each other, said socket body configured to beelectrically connected to contact terminals; a pressing memberconfigured to be brought in contact with said semiconductor device andpress said semiconductor device toward said contact terminals, saidpressing member being configured to hold said semiconductor device insaid semiconductor device placement section; and a cover membersupported by said socket body in a movable manner for bringing saidpressing member into contact with or away from said semiconductor devicein accordance with the attachment or detachment of said semiconductordevice relative to said semiconductor device placement section; whereinthe cover member includes a convex portion configured to engage with aproximal end of the pressing member to raise the pressing member to aposition away from the semiconductor device when the cover member islowered.
 2. A socket in accordance with claim 1, wherein the convexportion includes a lower arm section to engage with the proximal end ofthe pressing member.
 3. A socket in accordance with claim 2, wherein thesocket body includes a recess configured to receive the lower armsection and the proximal end of the pressing member.
 4. A socket inaccordance with claim 1, wherein said pressing member is a firstpressing member, said socket further comprising: a second pressingmember for holding said semiconductor device in said semiconductordevice placement section in association with said first pressing member,said second pressing member having a proximal end supported at anopposite end of said socket body from the first pressing member.
 5. Asocket in accordance with claim 4, wherein the convex member is a firstconvex member, said cover member further comprising a second convexportion configured to engage the proximal end of the second pressingmember to raise the second pressing member to a position away from thesemiconductor device when the cover member is lowered.
 6. A socket inaccordance with claim 5, wherein the socket body includes a recessconfigured to receive a lower arm section and the proximal end of thesecond pressing member.
 7. The socket for a semiconductor device asclaimed in claim 6, wherein the convex portion further comprisesopenings configured to receive the first and second pressing memberswhen said cover member is lowered.